Jasmine Paolini, Madrid debut not to be underestimated

Daily debut for Jasmine Paolini in the “Mutua Madrid Open,” WTA 1000 with a prize pool of 7,854,000 euros that is being played on the clay of the Caja Magica in Madrid, Spain (combined with an Atp Masters 1000).

The 26-year-old from Bagni di Lucca, No. 6 WTA and sixth seeded favorite, like all of the top 32 seeds, has been exempted from the first round: the Tuscan tennis player, fresh from her semifinal in Stuttgart (stopped by Sabalenka), enters the competition directly in the second round against Britain’s Katie Boulter, No. 40 WTA. Tied, 2-2, is the previous record, with the Italian winning the most recent one, played last year in the quarters on the grass at Eastbourne.

The winner of this match will have to contend in the third round with either the match between Poland’s Magda Linette, No. 33 in the rankings and No. 29 in the seeding, or Greece’s Maria Sakkari, No. 82 WTA.

“Jas” returns to the Caja Magica for the fifth time. After being eliminated in the first round of qualifying in 2021, and making her main draw debut in 2022 and 2023, she won her first matches in Madrid last year, against Andorran Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva and Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia, the latter of whom she beat for the second time in her career. Then she stopped in the round of 16 against Mirra Andreeva.

Included again in the top of the draw, the one presided over by the queen of world tennis, the 29-year-old from Bagni di Lucca could then find again in the third round the Polish Linette (No. 29), already beaten in the quarters in Miami last month. In the round of 16, a possible challenge either against Kazakhstan’s Rybakina (No. 10) or Ukraine’s Svitolina (No. 17), fresh winner in Ruen of her 18th WTA trophy, while in the quarters one between U.S. Pegula (No. 3), Tunisia’s Jabeur (No. 26), Russia’s Alexandrova (No. 21), also a semifinalist in Stuttgart, or Australia’s newcomer Kasatkina (No. 14), before another semifinal against Sabalenka.