Jasmine Paolini begins her quest for a first Grand Slam title when she opens her Australian Open campaign by facing Chinese qualifier Wei Sijia.
To make it to this stage of the singles draw, Sijia had to overcome a first-set loss to Nina Stojanovic in her second qualifier on Wednesday, winning 4-6 6-4 7-6 (11-9), while Paolini made it to three Grand Slam finals in 2024 and lost them all.
Match preview
© Imago
After a straightforward victory over Tamara Korpatsch in her first qualifier, Wei Sijia had to work hard to oust Serbian Nina Stojanovic in midweek.
The Chinese international won a nervy third set tiebreaker 11-9 to earn her place in the opening round, and she should have plenty of momentum for this big match.
Heading into this event, Sijia had made the final of her previous two singles tournaments and lost them both to Aoi Ito in straight sets, including a 4-6 3-6 defeat at the Workday Canberra International.
When winning the opening set, she has been virtually unbeatable for quite some time, claiming victory in each of her singles matches when doing so since a 6-4 2-6 1-6 defeat versus Harriet Dart at the ITF 1000 semi-finals in November 2023.
Last year, she tended to be a little erratic with her serve, hitting 28 double faults with only 13 aces, but she was able to win 43.8% of her return points.
Her service game was decent, as she won 61.8% of those in 2024 and saved 62.8% of her break points, which made up for her struggles on the first serve (54%).
© Imago
It was a strong 2024 for Jasmine Paolini on the Grand Slam draws, but losing three finals - two on the singles side - should make her hungry to take the next step this year.
The Italian has had a harder time on the hard court at Grand Slams however, failing to make it beyond the fourth round of either the US or Australian Open.
This tournament, in particular, has not been kind to her, with Paolini exiting in her opening round singles match in three of the past four years, making it to round four in 2024.
In her previous appearance on the hard court, she won two of her three matches at the United Cup in Australia, claiming straight sets victories over Chloe Paquet and Belinda Bencic but losing to Karolina Muchova in two sets.
Early into 2025, the Italian has won 72.7% of her service games while winning 66% of her first serves and saving 53.8% of her break points.
She has begun the year with some strong forehand play when off serve, winning 52.8% of her return points and converting 48% of her break point opportunities.
Tournament so Far
Wei Sijia
Qualifier 1: vs. Tamara Korpatsch 6-3 6-3
Qualifier 2: vs Nina Stojanovic 4-6 6-4 7-6 (11-9)
Miami Open (2024) - Third Round: Garcia wins 7-6(4) 7-5
We say: Paolini to win in two sets
Sijia may be physically exhausted from her previous match, and we do not foresee a seasoned player like Paolini, who covers so much ground on the court, having any trouble advancing from this encounter.
Joel Lefevre
