Jasmine Paolini reveals why Wimbledon final is harder to stomach than Roland Garros

07/14/2024 09:30 AM

Jasmine Paolini failed to win her first Slam at Wimbledon, but what she is doing this year is extraordinary. Until a few months ago it seemed impossible to achieve results of this magnitude and, instead, together with her coach Renzo Furlan she has built something unique. Two consecutive finals in a Major, top 5, first WTA 1000 in Dubai: 2024 has made Paolini understand that she can aim to win the most important titles on the Tour. These performances cannot be a coincidence.

"I think about it every now and then and tell myself that it is nice to play these matches. I am having fun. Playing at this level was a dream, a goal. It was difficult to get there and now I am here. I will try to maintain this level for as long as possible, without putting too much pressure on myself."

With these words, analyzing the match lost against Barbora Krejcikova in a press conference, Paolini said that at the moment she does not want to put any pressure on herself for the immediate future.

"At the moment I try not to put any pressure on myself, I'm enjoying the level I'm playing at and the matches I'm playing. It was a very balanced match. Maybe if I had started. But she played very well, she put a lot of first serves at the beginning. The other final in Paris was tough and I accepted the defeat better because it was really complicated. Today maybe it's a little harder to digest, I started badly. But in the end it went like this, she played very well and served very well for all the key moments of the match," she added.

In the seventh game of the decisive set, Paolini called the hawk-eye on the first serve and then had to play the second. A second that unfortunately turned into the painful double fault that gave the break to her opponent.

"I didn't regret it. I regretted missing the second serve! It was really just out, it could have happened. If I could go back I would probably take a little more time between the first and second serve. But I will definitely think about that ball a little. Paris Olympic Games 2024? It's a competition that all athletes dream of, because it comes every four years. I hope to play good tennis. I'll take a few days off now, but then we'll train on clay to try to be ready. Let's see what comes, I'll try to give my best because it's an important goal. I'll give it my all. Let's hope they go well," she said.