Latest news with #Paolini
The Star
40 minutes ago
- Climate
- The Star
Tennis-Paolini prepared to sweat it out with Wimbledon braced for hot start
Tennis - Bad Homburg Open - Bad Homburg Tennis Club, Bad Homburg, Germany - June 27, 2025 Italy's Jasmine Paolini in action during her semi final match against Poland's Iga Swiatek REUTERS/Heiko Becker (Reuters) -Italian fourth seed Jasmine Paolini said on Saturday she is unfazed by forecasts of soaring temperatures at Wimbledon where last year's runner-up again carries the hopes of a nation yet to celebrate a singles champion at the All England Club. Paolini said she prefers sunny conditions and will aim to stay well hydrated in temperatures forecast to push 33 degrees Celsius. "We'll see. I like hot ... It's better when it is sunny for everybody," Paolini told reporters. "Drink a lot, I guess. That's the main thing because if the match goes long, it's tough ... In Hamburg was hot, Berlin was also hot," she said, referring to the tune-up tournaments ahead of Wimbledon. Last year during rain Paolini played under cover at Wimbledon, which has retractable roofs on Centre Court and Court number one in case of weather disruptions. "Last year I have to say I really like when the roof was closed. Still you have to play on this court to have the roof," she said. The 29-year-old Paolini, the first Italian woman in the Open Era to reach the Wimbledon final, returns to the Grand Slam with modest expectations, though she remains Italy's best hope for a Wimbledon women's singles breakthrough. Italy has also come close to a men's singles title at Wimbledon with Matteo Berrettini reaching the final in 2021. "I'm trying always to keep the expectation low. Especially on grass, everything can really happen," she said. "I don't know, just trying to focus on the first match, trying to play a good match with a good level." Paolini's 2024 season was nothing short of extraordinary, highlighted by her WTA 1000 title in Dubai and back-to-back Grand Slam finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. In May this year, Paolini became the first Italian in 40 years to win the women's singles title in Rome. In the grasscourt swing she lost to twice Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeur in her opening match in Berlin and enjoyed a semi-final run in Bad Homburg before falling to Iga Swiatek. (Reporting by Shifa Jahan in Bengaluru; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Climate
- Straits Times
Paolini prepared to sweat it out with Wimbledon braced for hot start
Tennis - Bad Homburg Open - Bad Homburg Tennis Club, Bad Homburg, Germany - June 27, 2025 Italy's Jasmine Paolini in action during her semi final match against Poland's Iga Swiatek REUTERS/Heiko Becker Paolini prepared to sweat it out with Wimbledon braced for hot start Italian fourth seed Jasmine Paolini said on Saturday she is unfazed by forecasts of soaring temperatures at Wimbledon where last year's runner-up again carries the hopes of a nation yet to celebrate a singles champion at the All England Club. Paolini said she prefers sunny conditions and will aim to stay well hydrated in temperatures forecast to push 33 degrees Celsius. "We'll see. I like hot ... It's better when it is sunny for everybody," Paolini told reporters. "Drink a lot, I guess. That's the main thing because if the match goes long, it's tough ... In Hamburg was hot, Berlin was also hot," she said, referring to the tune-up tournaments ahead of Wimbledon. Last year during rain Paolini played under cover at Wimbledon, which has retractable roofs on Centre Court and Court number one in case of weather disruptions. "Last year I have to say I really like when the roof was closed. Still you have to play on this court to have the roof," she said. The 29-year-old Paolini, the first Italian woman in the Open Era to reach the Wimbledon final, returns to the Grand Slam with modest expectations, though she remains Italy's best hope for a Wimbledon women's singles breakthrough. Italy has also come close to a men's singles title at Wimbledon with Matteo Berrettini reaching the final in 2021. "I'm trying always to keep the expectation low. Especially on grass, everything can really happen," she said. "I don't know, just trying to focus on the first match, trying to play a good match with a good level." Paolini's 2024 season was nothing short of extraordinary, highlighted by her WTA 1000 title in Dubai and back-to-back Grand Slam finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. In May this year, Paolini became the first Italian in 40 years to win the women's singles title in Rome. In the grasscourt swing she lost to twice Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeur in her opening match in Berlin and enjoyed a semi-final run in Bad Homburg before falling to Iga Swiatek. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Climate
- Hindustan Times
Tennis-Paolini prepared to sweat it out with Wimbledon braced for hot start
June 28 - Italian fourth seed Jasmine Paolini said on Saturday she is unfazed by forecasts of soaring temperatures at Wimbledon where last year's runner-up again carries the hopes of a nation yet to celebrate a singles champion at the All England Club. HT Image Paolini said she prefers sunny conditions and will aim to stay well hydrated in temperatures forecast to push 33 degrees Celsius. "We'll see. I like hot ... It's better when it is sunny for everybody," Paolini told reporters. "Drink a lot, I guess. That's the main thing because if the match goes long, it's tough ... In Hamburg was hot, Berlin was also hot," she said, referring to the tune-up tournaments ahead of Wimbledon. Last year during rain Paolini played under cover at Wimbledon, which has retractable roofs on Centre Court and Court number one in case of weather disruptions. "Last year I have to say I really like when the roof was closed. Still you have to play on this court to have the roof," she said. The 29-year-old Paolini, the first Italian woman in the Open Era to reach the Wimbledon final, returns to the Grand Slam with modest expectations, though she remains Italy's best hope for a Wimbledon women's singles breakthrough. Italy has also come close to a men's singles title at Wimbledon with Matteo Berrettini reaching the final in 2021. "I'm trying always to keep the expectation low. Especially on grass, everything can really happen," she said. "I don't know, just trying to focus on the first match, trying to play a good match with a good level." Paolini's 2024 season was nothing short of extraordinary, highlighted by her WTA 1000 title in Dubai and back-to-back Grand Slam finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. In May this year, Paolini became the first Italian in 40 years to win the women's singles title in Rome. In the grasscourt swing she lost to twice Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeur in her opening match in Berlin and enjoyed a semi-final run in Bad Homburg before falling to Iga Swiatek. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Iga Swiatek and Alex Eala achieve firsts on the grass as Wimbledon comes into view
'I didn't expect to win this match' isn't a phrase that comes out of a five-time Grand Slam champion's mouth very often. But after Iga Świątek cruised past Jasmine Paolini 6-1, 6-3 to reach the first WTA Tour grass-court final of her career, it was the first thing on her mind. Perhaps Paolini being a Wimbledon finalist last year was a factor. Perhaps Świątek never going beyond the quarterfinals in south-west London was too. But for 16 games Friday in Bad Homburg, it was the Pole who looked like the master of the grass. She's looked that way for most of the tournament in Germany, using her serve like she hasn't done for a while to get out of adversity against the powerful players that have troubled her in the past. Advertisement Against Paolini, however, Świątek was dominant. Her confidence on her forehand oozed out into heavy, sharply angled balls that kept Paolini pinned behind the baseline, stopping her from coming into the net, where she has the edge on Świątek. She leapt on Paolini's serve at every opportunity, zipping return winners past her opponent — something she has been more familiar with happening to her in recent times. Świątek broke Paolini five times and had break points for a sixth, ultimately easing into her first final since last year's French Open, in which she will face world No. 3 Jessica Pegula. It caps a strange 12 months for Świątek, in which she has had her less-than-perfect results scrutinized at her best events over and above her improvements across the calendar. She is No. 3 in the WTA Tour rankings race, just a few hundred points behind No. 2 Coco Gauff, and made the semifinals at both the Australian and French Opens. She was a point from the final in Melbourne and she has made the semifinals of five other tournaments, including in Bad Homburg. But she has become synonymous with era-defining excellence on clay, and so her dips from that excellence, which have included at times heavy defeats, have taken greater space than her successes. The same cannot be said for Alexandra Eala, who so memorably beat Świątek at the Miami Open in March. On the same day as Świątek's success, Eala, 20, became the first Filipino to reach a WTA Tour final, beating Varvara Gracheva 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 at Eastbourne in the UK. It's the latest in a succession of firsts for Eala and Filipino tennis, and it is not one of her biggest wins: in Miami, she beat Madison Keys and Jelena Ostapenko, two more Grand Slam champions, as well as Świątek. But Eala's use of angle, a devastatingly powerful and disguised down-the-line forehand, and an improved serve — which has looked attackable throughout her rise inside the WTA top 100 — could foretell more success on the grass, a surface which appears to suit her game. Her mastery of the wind on the south coast of the UK, which buffeted across the courts and tested players' limits, also showed off her ability to adapt the length of her swing and to redirect an incoming ball rather than swinging out on every shot. Advertisement At Wimbledon, she will achieve another first. Eala will play defending champion Barbora Krejčíková on Centre Court, and with Krejčíková having withdrawn from Eastbourne with a thigh injury, the ingredients are there for another announcement of her ability to the tennis world. First, Eala will go in search of her first WTA Tour title, with a final against Maya Joint Saturday, the same day that Świątek and Pegula will play. This article originally appeared in The Athletic. Tennis, Women's Tennis 2025 The Athletic Media Company
New York Times
a day ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Iga Swiatek and Alex Eala achieve firsts on the grass as Wimbledon comes into view
'I didn't expect to win this match' isn't a phrase that comes out of a five-time Grand Slam champion's mouth very often. But after Iga Świątek cruised past Jasmine Paolini 6-1, 6-3 to reach the first WTA Tour grass-court final of her career, it was the first thing on her mind. Perhaps Paolini being a Wimbledon finalist last year was a factor. Perhaps Świątek never going beyond the quarterfinals in south-west London was too. But for 16 games Friday in Bad Homburg, it was the Pole who looked like the master of the grass. She's looked that way for most of the tournament in Germany, using her serve like she hasn't done for a while to get out of adversity against the powerful players that have troubled her in the past. Advertisement Against Paolini, however, Świątek was dominant. Her confidence on her forehand oozed out into heavy, sharply angled balls that kept Paolini pinned behind the baseline, stopping her from coming into the net, where she has the edge on Świątek. She leapt on Paolini's serve at every opportunity, zipping return winners past her opponent — something she has been more familiar with happening to her in recent times. Świątek broke Paolini five times and had break points for a sixth, ultimately easing into her first final since last year's French Open, in which she will face world No. 3 Jessica Pegula. It caps a strange 12 months for Świątek, in which she has had her less-than-perfect results scrutinized at her best events over and above her improvements across the calendar. She is No. 3 in the WTA Tour rankings race, just a few hundred points behind No. 2 Coco Gauff, and made the semifinals at both the Australian and French Opens. She was a point from the final in Melbourne and she has made the semifinals of five other tournaments, including in Bad Homburg. But she has become synonymous with era-defining excellence on clay, and so her dips from that excellence, which have included at times heavy defeats, have taken greater space than her successes. The same cannot be said for Alexandra Eala, who so memorably beat Świątek at the Miami Open in March. On the same day as Świątek's success, Eala, 20, became the first Filipino to reach a WTA Tour final, beating Varvara Gracheva 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 at Eastbourne in the UK. It's the latest in a succession of firsts for Eala and Filipino tennis, and it is not one of her biggest wins: in Miami, she beat Madison Keys and Jelena Ostapenko, two more Grand Slam champions, as well as Świątek. But Eala's use of angle, a devastatingly powerful and disguised down-the-line forehand, and an improved serve — which has looked attackable throughout her rise inside the WTA top 100 — could foretell more success on the grass, a surface which appears to suit her game. Her mastery of the wind on the south coast of the UK, which buffeted across the courts and tested players' limits, also showed off her ability to adapt the length of her swing and to redirect an incoming ball rather than swinging out on every shot. Advertisement At Wimbledon, she will achieve another first. Eala will play defending champion Barbora Krejčíková on Centre Court, and with Krejčíková having withdrawn from Eastbourne with a thigh injury, the ingredients are there for another announcement of her ability to the tennis world. First, Eala will go in search of her first WTA Tour title, with a final against Maya Joint Saturday, the same day that Świątek and Pegula will play. (Photos: Getty Images)
