Jasmine Paolini Becomes Top Featured At Indian Wells 2022

Jasmine Paolini Top Seed At Indian Wells 2022 – The 26-year-old Italian came from a set down to claim her first Top 10 win. Paolini may only stand at 5’4 WTA. But he always packs a punch. On Saturday, the Italian scored the biggest win of her career over 2nd seed Aryna Sabalenka to reach the third round of the BNP Paribas Open. Paolini had to come from behind as Sabalenka made a strong start, but the world number 3’s game quickly changed as Paolini started to put pressure on the second and third sets. Paolini broke four times on his way to a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 win, sealing his first Top 10 win.

After the first set, I didn’t expect to win the match. “But I try to be there every point not to think about the score,” said Paolini. I mean, the score is 6-2 for him. I’m not even close to him. But then, point by point I started to believe it. I started hitting the ball better, deeper on the pitch. This is the latest milestone for the 26-year-old on the rise. Made her Top 50 debut at the Australian Open and claimed her first WTA title last year at Portoroz. Paolini has gone 0-3 against the Tour’s Top 10 coming into clashes with top seed Sabalenka in the women’s draw following the absences of Ashleigh Barty and Barbora Krejcikova but has freed herself well by finding ways to exploit her opponent’s weaknesses.

Sabalenka’s serve woes have been well documented throughout her sluggish start to 2022. But yips and double faults seem to be mostly behind her, having reached the quarter-finals in Doha last month. In the Middle East, Sabalenka relied on her big first serve and explosive baseline play to protect her vulnerable second serve.

Reverse Lagging

It was a strategy that helped the second seed through the opening set against Paolini. Staggered from the last four games in a row. But Paolini adapted in the second and third sets, attacking early in the rally and using his aggressive play to take Sabalenka out of her comfort zone. The Belarusian responded with an even bigger shot. But as it backfired, his frustration grew even more, according to the post-match stats. Of the 82 points that Paolini won, 63 of them were unforced errors by Sabalenka, including 10 double faults. Paolini stayed solid to close out the last two sets, picking up the victory in one hour and 47 minutes.

Before last year, I didn’t believe that I could also play on hard courts. “I played pretty well on clay, but I had trouble on hard courts,” Paolini said after the game. Now I think I believe that I can play here too. I think that’s the key. More tournaments are held on hard courts. I mean, rather than on clay. I have more chances to earn points. It gave me confidence all year round. Returned to the third round for the second year in a row. Paolini awaits the winners of the 31st seed, Viktorija Golubic and Yulia Putintseva.

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