Wimbledon: Jasmine Paolini Steps on the Gas and Keeps the Italian Flag Flying High

Following the first-round elimination of Elisabetta Cocciaretto and the second-round elimination of Tyra Caterina Grant, only one Italian player remains at Wimbledon to fly the Italian flag in the women’s draw: Jasmine Paolini, who defeated Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic in two sets on Thursday to advance to the third round of the London Grand Slam.

The final score was 7-6(0), 6-4 in favor of the champion from Bagni di Lucca, who wrapped up the match in one hour and forty-one minutes. It wasn’t an easy match—quite the opposite: Golubic immediately took a two-game lead and stayed ahead until 4-3, but a couple of break points by Paolini shifted the momentum of the match, even though she squandered two set points at 5-4. In the tiebreak, which became necessary at 6-6, the Italian showed no mercy to her opponent, closing it out with a decisive 7-0 run.

The second set unfolded quite differently: Paolini immediately took a 2-0 lead, but then Golubic mounted a strong comeback, fighting back to make it 3-2. For the Swiss player, however, that was her last real surge: with a run of four games to one, Jasmine clinched a tough match, winning with grit and character.

Jasmine Paolini’s next opponent will be Greek veteran Maria Sakkari, who defeated Uzbek Kamilla Rakhimova 6-3, 0-6, 7-6(10-7). Sakkari and Paolini have faced each other five times before, with the Greek leading the head-to-head series 3-2: Their most recent match took place in the second round of the Doha tournament on February 10, which Sakkari won 6-4, 6-2 in one hour and twenty-four minutes.