Jasmine Paolini reaches 2024 French Open final, smashes these records
Italy's Jasmine Paolini defeated 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 6-1 in Thursday's second semi-final in the 2024 edition of the French Open. Paolini has secured her first Grand Slam final and will face two-time defending champion Iga Swiatek. Notably, the 12th seed is now the third Italian woman in the Open Era to play in the Roland Garros final. Here are further details.
Paolini enters record books
Paolini is the first Italian to reach the final of a Grand Slam event since Roberta Vinci (US Open 2015). She is the first Italian at the final of the French Open since Sara Errani in 2012. Paolini is the third player in the last decade to reach her first Grand Slam final in Paris after turning 28 (also Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Lucie Safarova).
Paolini joins these two Italian players
Paolini joined Francesca Schiavone (2010, 2011) and Errani (2012) in advancing to the title match at Roland Garros. Earlier, she became one of four Italian women to make the Roland Garros semi-finals in the Open Era.
Key match stats
Paolini put in a shift and won the duel in 1 hour and 13 minutes. Paolini struck 14 winners to just 10 unforced errors in the match. Teenager Andreeva hit 29 unforced errors to 11 winners. Both players clocked an ace each with Andreeva committing a double fault. Paolini had a 68% win on the first serve and a 58% win on the second.
Paolini's reaction following her win
"It's a great feeling to be in a Grand Slam final. It seems something impossible, but it's true. I'm really happy to be in this position," Paolini said post-match. "I never dreamed to be I think in a Grand Slam final, and I'm here."