Jasmine Paolini’s first match in the WTA 500 in Eastbourne lasts just seven games. The Tuscan team, in fact, goes to the quarter-finals due to the withdrawal of the Belgian Elise Mertens after just over half an hour, when the score was 5-2 in favor of the world number 7. At this point, tomorrow for the Roland Garros finalist there will be a complicated match against the Briton Katie Boulteramong the most prominent players this season on grass.
The first to encounter difficulties is Paolini, who with a couple of errors ends up 0-30 down at 1-1, but finds a way to come back effectively. To win the game, a very special moment: Jasmine slips immediately after the first, but she has time to get up and close with a forehand. The fourth game is of quality: the Italian gets a break point by playing aggressively, but Mertens’ first game is excellent.
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The world number 7 has two more chances to leave at 3-2, and on the second she manages to force her opponent to poorly organize the forehand: 4-2. After another hard-fought game, the Belgian finds herself talking to the physiotherapist due to an unclear problem. A few minutes later Mertens withdrawswhich thus lets Paolini advance (although without real happiness) to the quarter-finals.
It’s also difficult to draw any kind of signal from this match, partly due to Mertens’ 18 free throws (counted by SAP statistics, but the impression is that it was a few fewer), partly due to the sudden end. It is true that Paolini was still serving well (79.2% of first serves).
