French Open & Wimbledon runner-up Paolini stunned by Schmiedlova at the Olympics
The Slovak will meet Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova in the last eight
Schmiedlova, Paris Olympics, 2024 DPPI / Panoramic
It won’t be a third consecutive big final for Italy’s Jasmine Paolini. After making the finals of both the French Open and Wimbledon in the span of seven weeks, the fourth-seeded Paolini was knocked out of the Paris Olympics women’s singles event by Slovakia’s Anna-Karolina Schmiedlova on Tuesday.
In the first set, it was Paolini who built the initial lead to go up 5-2 before her opponent fought back to win five games in a row and take the set 7-5. The Italian took the lead in the second set too, going up 5-1. A mini-comeback from Schmiedlova followed before Paolini was able to hold serve and win the set 6-3 to move the match into a decider.
Paolini went up a break on three occasions in the final set, to go up 1-0, 2-1 and 5-4. But each time, the Italian was broken right back. Schmiedlova, ranked 67th in the world, got a crucial break in the 11th game and then held on to close out the 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 win in just over two-and-a-half hours.
In the quarter-finals, the 29-year-old will meet Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova, who defeated Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina 7-6, 2-6, 6-4 in another third-round clash on Tuesday.
Paolini, who is still in the women’s doubles draw with Sara Errani, was disappointed at the result. In a post on X, she said, “Tough match today. Gave it my all. Feeling disappointed but every setback is a lesson. Thanks for the support.”
