Jasmine Paolini reached her first Grand Slam Semi-Final last month in a hard-fought three-set match against Elena Rybakina, who was far below her best at times. It seemed at one stage as if neither wanted to win, as an eight game spell went by with seven breaks of serve. But eventually Paolini took back control, and capitalised on a ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ performance from Rybakina.
Rybakina way off pace in first set
If you’d never seen Tennis before, you’d presume that Elena Rybakina was in her first Grand Slam Quarter-Final, and not Jasmine Paolini. The Italian made a wonderful start from the very first point, reaching down low to find an impossible winner past Rybakina at the net. This set the tone, with Paolini darting around the court as if she’d been shot out of a canon, and Rybakina looking flat, uninspiring.
The Kazakh’s unforced error count grew to a staggering 16 by the end of the first set, contributing to Paolini not losing a single point in her first three service games. While Rybakina was a victim of Paolini’s excellence, she was also a contributing architect of her own downfall, losing the first set 6-2.
Fightback in chaotic second set
The opening game hold from Elena Rybakina set the tone for this set – she wouldn’t go down without a fight. Pressure began to mount on Paolini during service games in a way she hadn’t felt up to this point. The Italian admitted after the match to feeling over-emotional in the second set, as she began to realise the gravity of what she could achieve.
This led to an increase in unforced errors from her, while on the other side of the net, Rybakina continued to struggle to keep control of them. She would look more like herself though, and in a crucial game at 4-4, she would be the only player to hold serve in an eight game period.
This put the pressure back on Paolini who, after losing her last service game from 40-15, was starting to feel the pressure. Despite going 30-0 up, she still lost the crucial final game, and a deciding set was required.
Paolini’s crowning moment
Almost as if the second set never happened, Rybakina was right back to where she started, with no momentum or energy on the court. Luckily for her, Paolini’s service games were no stronger, and they continued to break each others serve, eventually arriving at 3-3. From here, Rybakina set the tone, impressively and convincing holding to love, only for the Italian to follow suit.
After that, Rybakina again lost all confidence in her Tennis without warning. She looked flat, and nothing would land the way she wanted, it was right back to the feelings of the first set. Paolini broke, and served out the final game to win the match, and reach her first Grand Slam Semi-Final.
Elena Rybakina certainly could’ve won that match, with her experience and arguably, superior ability. But she didn’t turn up to the occasion, whereas Jasmine Paolini certainly did. Her story of underdog success will continue, as she plays either Mirra Andreeva or Aryna Sabalenka in the final four.
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