The fourth attempt is the right one. Jasmine Paolini wins her first career match on the grass of Wimbledon and does so by beating, perhaps with more difficulty than expected (in the first set), the Spanish Sara Sorribes Tormo, defeated by the Tuscan last July on the red clay of Palermo. A different world compared to that of the Championships, with a surface that certainly does not help the Italian number 1 (and 7 in the world). But by now surprising is the declared mission of Paolini, who in the second round will challenge the Belgian Greet Minnen (2-0 over Watson). Not exactly an impossible match for the Roland Garros finalist. In the meantime Jasmine enjoys her first success at the Championships, obtained with a resounding 7-5 6-3 in one hour and 37 minutes.
paolini match
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Jasmine, who must transform her apparent weakness on these courts into dominance, starts out tight and immediately gets the serve torn away. The Spaniard does not maintain the advantage and Paolini gets back to 2-2 in the fourth game. The eighth game could be the turning point, with Sorribes Tormo’s disaster and the Italian serving for the set. And despite the ball for the first set (procured with a great slice passer), Jasmine suffers the counter-break. At 4-5 (and then 5-5) there could be a backlash, but Paolini is not among the best players in the world by pure chance. The Italian serves to secure the tie-break and cancels a break point, putting all the pressure back on Sara. The Spaniard does poorly on serve and Paolini creates a highway with her backhand, moving on to the third set point thanks to a volley. It took 55 minutes, but the first set belonged to Jasmine.
paolini final
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The Spaniard doesn’t give up and gets three break points for the 1-0 in the second set. All wasted, with Jasmine finding the mini-comeback that gives the match another boost. Sorribes Tormo would like to smash his racket and completely leaves the match. Break of 2-0 thanks to a backhand passer and a lullaby to the match: Sorribes’ backhand goes on holiday and the second break of the set also arrives in favor of the tennis player from Castelnuovo di Garfagnana. Sara recovers one of the two breaks and shortens to 4-1, sensationally reopening the match with a partial of 10 points to 3. Down 3-4 Sorribes serves to put everything back in balance, but suffers yet another break, the one that leads Jasmine to serve for the match. There Paolini no longer trembles and closes 6-3.
