Paris, FRANCE – The Paris dream continued for Jasmine Paolini (ITA) with the Team Yonex star reaching her first Grand Slam final on the clay of Roland-Garros.
Now that the Italian truly believes in herself and dares to dream big on the sport's grandest stages, she has been playing some extraordinary tennis on Court Philippe-Chatrier. On her first appearance in a Grand Slam semi-final, she was telling herself to stay calm and relaxed and, after a nervous start, she was able to do just that. In control of her nerves and her emotions, Paolini dropped just four games to defeat Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 6-1 to go through to play Iga Swiatek, the world No. 1 and defending champion, in Saturday’s final.
Until this year, Paolini had never gone beyond the second round at any of the majors. Building on her run to the fourth round of this year’s Australian Open, Paolini has become only the third Italian woman in the Open Era, and the first since 2012, to reach the final at Roland-Garros. On a historic afternoon in south-west Paris, Paolini also became the first Italian woman in nine years to make it to the final of any of the four Grand Slams.
Paolini’s run has demonstrated the power of dreaming, and how it’s possible to turn those dreams into reality. “To dream is the most important thing in sport and in life," an emotional Paolini said. "I'm happy that I could dream this moment."
For most of this fortnight, Paolini has been lighting up Paris with her smile. And no wonder because she has plenty to be happy about. Even before she played her semi-final, Paolini was assured of breaking into the top 10 in the WTA Rankings on Monday. Now she has given herself the chance to climb into the top 5, which would be among her rewards for defeating Swiatek.
De Groot moves closer to 14th Grand Slam in a row
More history could be about to flow from the Yonex racquet of Diede de Groot (NED), who has reached the final of the women’s wheelchair singles, where she will be attempting to win a 14th consecutive Grand Slam. The Team Yonex star, who is also looking to win a fourth consecutive Roland-Garros title, won 6-1, 6-4 against Aniek van Koot. De Groot plays Zhenzhen Zhu for the title.
All-Yonex final in the men’s wheelchair singles
Teenager Tokito Oda (JPN) dropped just two games to reach the final of the men’s wheelchair singles at Roland-Garros. The Team Yonex star, who landed his first Grand Slam title in Paris last year, was a 6-1, 6-1 winner against Japan’s Takuya Miki. Oda will play fellow Team Yonex star Gustavo Fernandez (ARG), who defeated Alfie Hewett 7-5, 6-7(1), 6-2 in an epic match lasting two hours and 39 minutes.
Jasmine Paolini (ITA) | VCORE 100 [LINK]/ POLYTOUR PRO 120 [LINK]
Diede de Groot (NED) | VCORE 98 [LINK] / REXIS COMFORT 125 [LINK]
Tokito Oda (JPN) | EZONE 100L [LINK] / POLYTOUR SPIN [LINK] / POLYTOUR PRO 125 [LINK]
Gustavo Fernandez (ARG) | PERCEPT 97D [LINK] / POLYTOUR REV 125 [LINK]
