Jasmine Paolini has reached the 3rd round of the Australian Open 2025, after beating Renata Zarazu in straight sets, with a score of 6-2 6-3.
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Last season, the Italian won for the first time in her career two consecutive matches in a Major right in Melbourne. This year, after two Slam finals in singles and an Olympic gold medal in doubles, she has reached a new awareness in her tennis and in her confidence.
Jasmine's path will now cross with that of Elina Svitolina, in the highly anticipated match for the access to the 4th round and the second week of the Happy Slam.
After qualifying for the 3rd round where she will challenge the Ukrainian, Jasmine analyzed in the post match: "I was a bit nervous and tense at the beginning of the match, I started with a double fault and immediately took a break. Then little by little I loosened up and found my game.
But it wasn't a very easy match because with her the ball always comes back and one of the goals was not to get caught up in the rush. Playing the evening session on a court like that is a beautiful feeling; when I wasn't seeded I always hoped not to play on those courts because it meant immediately facing a very high seed.
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I always said: it would be nice to play there because of myself and not because of my opponent. Now I try to enjoy it, I consider it a privilege. I trained with Svitolina a couple of times but I've never played against her and I don't know what to expect. She has a lot of experience at a high level, I know it will be a difficult match."
