Paolini focused on the road ahead as WTA Finals race heats up

BEIJING -- Jasmine Paolini is in no mood to look in the rearview mirror. She enters the China Open this week at No.4 on the PIF Race to the WTA Finals. That means, despite her season, which included a first WTA 1000 title in Dubai and back-to-back Grand Slam finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, there's still work to do.

Beijing: Scores | Order of Play | Draws

"We are trying to keep focused, to be in the present," Paolini, 28, told WTA Insider in Beijing. "It's tough because it's the end of the season. I've played many matches, but it's good that I've played many matches actually. We are trying to keep practicing well, to keep being motivated. 

"There is a big goal I had: We have to qualify for the WTA Finals. So we have to push on the accelerator."

Keeping her foot on the gas and not overthinking her breakthrough rise has been the key to her success this year. It bears remembering that before 2024, Paolini had never won back-to-back matches at the majors and had won only one Hologic WTA Tour title, at the WTA 250 in Portoroz in 2021. And she had never been higher than No.29 on the rankings.

The idea of qualifying for the WTA Finals Riyadh was nowhere in her mind at the beginning of the year. Now, nearly 10 months into the season, she could find herself at her first year-end championship in both singles and doubles. Along with her partner Sara Errani, she enters Beijing at No.5 on the PIF Race to the WTA Finals leaderboard in doubles. She's the only player in the Top 10 on both leaderboards.

She is trying to become the first Italian woman to qualify in singles since Flavia Pennetta in 2015. 

"I played a really good season so it would be great to be part of the WTA Finals for the first time," Paolini said. 

"It's a real exclusive club. If I am able to play there it's going to be really exciting and fun."

Seeded No.3 in Beijing, Paolini will open her tournament against Denmark's Clara Tauson on Saturday. Paolini made her tournament debut last year and did well. Ranked No.36, she 16th-seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia and China's Yuan Yue to make the Round of 16, where she bowed out to then-No.1 Aryna Sabalenka.

Is fatigue an issue? She carries a 36-16 record into Beijing. Add her 40 doubles matches -- and that's 92 tennis matches under her belt this year. Paolini gave herself 10 days off after her run to the US Open Round of 16. She and her team know that managing a player's energy levels is a long game.

"The calendar is really tight," she said. "For the pre-season we don't have many weeks, it's really short. I think we are getting used to not getting many weeks for practice. We have to manage everything well. 

"But we are at the end of the season. I played many matches but I'm trying not to think about whether I'm tired or not. We just have to keep going."

Where Paolini has made the most strides this season is winning when she's not at her best. She may be a late bloomer, but there was no triggering incident that sparked her 2024 surge. She has unlocked her achievements by building on momentum and experience.

"Of course, I think winning helps because when you have many matches then when you are in a bad moment you know better how to come back," she said. "When you don't have many wins, it's tough to do that. So it's a combination of things, but I think winning is the best thing. I did not play well all the matches, but maybe because I was more confident than in the past years, I managed to take the match.

"I'm trying to think that I can crash today or tomorrow, it's normal and it can happen. To be consistent, you have to reduce the downs as much as possible and I think that is the most important thing and the thing I improved most. The ups are coming if you are always there, but you have to manage to not go too much down."

Maybe that explains the broad smile that creeps across her face even in the toughest of moments. It is equal parts coping mechanism and competitive philosophy. It's why she can now look back on her tough three-set loss to Barbora Krecjikova in the Wimbledon final and not beat herself up over the missed opportunity. 

Though, she admits, it took some time to get to this place of peace. For three days after the final she was so heartbroken that she could not bring herself to watch any Wimbledon videos that popped up on her social media.

"I'm still thinking sometimes about the final, if I could do something more, if I could do something different especially in the third set," she said. "But I'm trying always to forget that. It's still a good tournament, it was a great experience. 

"Now I see the positive things. I still played the final at Wimbledon, which I still think is the best tournament in the world."