Jasmine Paolini, big shots and laughter Sunday morning at the Foro Italico
Roba for fine palates and…early risers. The allure of training on the eve of a major tournament is also this. You arrive early at the Foro Italico go to get a’glimpse of emerging star (in truth already so much emerged…) Mirra Andreeva testing the “red” of the Central and surprisingly find yourself Jasmine Paolini on the’other side of the net. Crossroads of the’last hour to test the Roman soil and enter the tournament climate with the right “sparring”.
Under the eyes of coaches Conchita Martinez, who knows every single grain of this land she who was queen of Rome for four consecutive years (from 1993 to 1996), and Marc Lopez, who began working with Jasmine a month ago (since the eve of the Stuttgart tournament).
The two Spanish coaches exchange views on approaches to be used and how to structure the training session, and off we go. There’s a good atmosphere between the two teams: they work on individual shots first and then play a few games. Which the audience shows they like a lot.
Jasmine’s volleys and drop-shots, Mirra’s answers and passes “pierce” the Central set off applause. It’s just a practice but better sets the record straight: both of them don’t hide a smirk of satisfaction after a good point. So if the azure makes her point with a pinpoint bunt the newly 18-year-old from Krasnoyarsk “retaliates” with a forehand response that prints on the line….
Andreeva has grown again in the last act and toughened up: she is quite different from the “baby” who twelve months ago lost in the first round to Badosa. Mirra has grown up (she signed a stellar “best” from No. 6: she is now No. 7) and has queen ambitions. In this 2025 she has already put two back-to-back “1000” trophies (Dubai and Indian Wells).
The approach to European clay was not as she probably expected (defeated by Alexandrova in the round of 16 in Stuttgart) but already in Madrid things went a little better (beaten in the round of 16 by Gauff).
At the entrance to the Central here emerges the elegant figure of Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen (with whom the 29-year-old from Bagni di Lucca, No. 6 WTA, will do a second hour of training) but Andreeva and Paolini play one last point – under the gaze of the Chinese -, with the Russian accompanying her cross-court backhand in the hallway with a howl, provoking general giggles. The session is over and Mirra and Jasmine embrace. Who knows if they will meet again on the Central in about ten days’ time to play for something important.
