Sparkling like a vintage syrah, Jasmine Paolini, he is teaching the world that tennis doesn’t thrive on physicality alone, that you can give your best in sport between the ages of 28 and 30, and still grow in technique and awareness: in two years, the last two, she has climbed the rankings of women’s professional tennis (WTA), up to fourth position (now she is eighth). If the Paris and Wimbledon singles finals had a positive impact on the rankings last year, the result of Rome 2025, with Coco Gauff dominated in the final in two very authoritative sets, is said to be even more significant.
The turning point has come in 2024 when the girl from Garfagnana was convinced, thanks to the great work of Renzo Furlan, to have the skills to play not as a throw-in but as an attack, and not only on clay but also on hard court.
Raised in Bagni di Lucca, she was introduced to tennis by her uncle Adriano who indulged her curiosity for the racket at the age of five. She trained at the Federal Tennis Academy of Tirrenia, where at the age of 15 she personally chose to move (when we say determination). Furlan’s encouragement to play doubles did a lot in giving her these qualities, which not only strengthened her as a singles player, but made her, together with Sara Errani, one of the best if not the best doubles players in the world.
Today Paolini, who turns 30 on January 4th, in which he adds to the physical and emotional freshness that preserves the experience, she is a very solid tennis player, athletic, fast, technical, capable of taking the point and closing it from the baseline and at the net and, also, equipped with a very respectable service despite the disadvantage in centimetres. The fact that he felt the need to experiment with new technical synergies indicates the conviction that he still wants to look forward and grow. After a parenthesis with Marc Lopez and Federico Gaio in 2025, Jasmine Paolini now works with Danilo Pizzorno and will also have her doubles partner Sara Errani as part of the team, for the tactical part: a nice sign of harmony between the two who will continue to team up in doubles: they have eight years of difference and the choice is a sign that Paolini also attributes her growth to the intuition of her partner who is more expert in reading the matches.
This year Jasmine Paolini cuddled like a teddy bear the Rome Internazionali cup brought back to Italy in singles 40 years after Raffalla Reggi’s success, under the eyes of the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella. Precisely from her – a native of Garfagni with excellent English and discreet Polish, because on her mother’s side she has a Polish grandmother, from whom she learned the language in the summers as a child, and a Nigerian grandfather whom she did not know – on the evening of 4 December the president received the lantern with the Olympic fire inside at the Quirinale Milan Cortina 2026which Jasmine brought from Athens at the end of the torch’s journey to Greek soil starting from Olympia. «It wasn’t», not even a dream», he said later, «but I remember when I watched the Olympic Games with my father on TV. I was 8 years old, they were in Athens, here, but I never imagined I would find myself in this position. It means a lot, it’s really a great honor. Bringing the flame to Italy is special: an incredible feeling.”
Sensations recognizable in that transparent smile of his that does not fade even on days of disappointment, proof of the inner strength of those who never lose the measure of the fact that talent for sport is a privilege that must be lived with joy and gratitude. Yet that evening Jasmine’s smile seemed intimidated by a different emotion. Maybe it’s because with Sara Errani she is the only Italian tennis player to have experienced what it feels like to see the flag go up on the highest flagpole with the Olympic gold around her neck. Maybe it’s because who knows how many times they told her, or at least made it clear, that with that 1.63m plus curls you couldn’t dream big. And who knows how much satisfaction there must be in proving that it wasn’t true.
