Paolini stuns misfiring Rybakina to reach her maiden Grand Slam semi-final
The Italian beat Rybakina 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 in a topsy-turvy encounter to move into her first Grand Slam semi-final. She will play Aryna Sabalenka or Mirra Andreeva in the last four
Jasmine Paolini, Roland-Garros, 2024 © Federico Pestellini / Panoramic
Jasmine Paolini stunned an under-par Elena Rybakina, winning 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 to reach the first Grand Slam semi-final of her career at Roland-Garros.
The world No 4 looked well below her best throughout the contest, especially across the first set-and-a-half, during which she was comprehensively outplayed by a very impressive display from the Italian.
It was Paolini’s first appearance in the last eight of a Grand Slam and she has now gone a step further at the first time of asking, reaching the semi-finals of Roland-Garros in what is by far the biggest achievement in a season that has been full of breakthrough moments for the 28-year-old.
Rybakina looked out of sorts throughout the first set and was put under early pressure on her serve against aggressive returning from Paolini. The Kazakh faced nine break points across her opening four service games, as she was broken in the first and seventh games of the match.
Rybakina successfully fended off the other seven break points she faced, but the Italian had settled excellently into the contest, navigating her service games impeccably as her opponent struggled to find early rhythm.
Paolini took the opening set 6-2 in just 29 minutes and with the loss of just a single point behind her serve. The world No 4 on the other hand, was leaking unforced errors freely, hitting 16 in total across an unexpectedly one-sided opening stanza.
At 5 foot 4 inches, there is a significant height disparity between Paolini and the six-foot tall Kazakh. But the diminutive Italian packs quite a punch. After committing just a single unforced error in the opening set, Paolini reapplied the early pressure on Rybakina’s serve at the start of the second, pouncing again in the third game to move a commanding set-and-a-break up.
rybakina finds her range to drag paolini into a deciding set
But Rybakina finally found her range in the fourth game, taking advantage of a first loose service game from her opponent to break straight back.
Another exchange of breaks came in the seventh and eighth games of the second set, as Paolini once again failed to consolidate a break of serve. This was the decisive juncture in the middle set. From there, Rybakina held serve and broke again in the tenth and final game to earn a third-set decider after twice being a set-and-a-break down.
The start of the third began in the same vein as the end of the second, as a flurry of four successive breaks of serve across the opening four games continued the topsy-turvy, return-dominated theme of the match before Rybakina finally held.
A succession of comfortable holds followed before Paolini took full advantage of a careless service game from Rybakina to break yet again in the ninth game. The Italian then stepped up to the baseline impressively to serve out the biggest win of her career.
“It’s an unbeatable feeling,” Paolini said in her on-court interview, after playing her first match on Philippe-Chatrier.
“It was a tough match. I was too emotional in the second set. I said to myself ‘it’s okay she’s a great champion. It can happen. Just fight and try to hit every ball.’ It worked. I’m here.
“It’s my first time playing on this beautiful court. It’s a pleasure. It’s a privilege. I’m happy I got to win my first match here because this is one of the best courts in tennis.”
another excellent result for paolini in a breakthrough season
Paolini has enjoyed a stellar 2024. After reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open in January having never previously won consecutive matches at a major, the Italian then backed that up with a superb surprise title run in Dubai to lift a maiden 1000-level title.
Now, she has carried that form into the clay-court stretch with a stunning victory over one of the title favourites to win her first ever Grand Slam quarter-final match.
There will no doubt be an inquest into this result and performance within the Rybakina camp, who will be bitterly disappointed not to have made a career-first appearance in the last four of Roland-Garros, given how well she had been playing.
But today belongs to the Italian, who has won over hearts in Paris with her tenacious performances and winning smile off court.
There will be plenty of smiles this evening before Paolini will have to regroup and follow up the biggest match of her career with an even bigger one when she takes on either Aryna Sabalenka or Mirra Andreeva in the semi-final.
RYBAKINA RUES HEALTH ISSUES
Unsurprisingly, in her post-match press conference Rybakina eluded to being under the weather.
“I think in the end my legs were not there,” she noted.
“No matter which conditions, if it’s slow or fast, I should have been moving better…. So I’m not really happy with the performance, but it is what it is. It’s tennis. Not every day you can play good.
“As I was saying, I was struggling a little bit with the health issues past few weeks — I think it’s just all together.
“But in the end no matter all these things, which were maybe happening outside of the court, I managed to get to the quarters.
“I think it’s pretty good result.”
