'Best breath of fresh air' - Wilander hails Jasmine Paolini ahead of Wimbledon showpiece against Barbora Krejcikova
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Published 13/07/2024 at 09:19 GMT
Mats Wilander has called Jasmine Paolini a "breath of fresh air" in tennis ahead of the Wimbledon final, where Paolini will face Czech player Barbora Krejcikova in the women's singles showpiece. It will mark a first-time champion for the seventh year in a row. Eurosport's Wilander previewed the unlikely final between the two entertaining 28-year-olds.
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Mats Wilander has called Jasmine Paolini a "breath of fresh air" in tennis ahead of the Italian's clash with Barbora Krejcikova in the Wimbledon final.
Paolini was barely inside the top 30 players in the world at the outset of 2024, but a remarkable run to both the French Open and now the Wimbledon finals has propelled her into the top 10.
It is doubly impressive considering the 28-year-old arrived at Wimbledon having never won a singles match at the tournament. That she would be facing off for the title was, a few months ago, unfathomable.
"Jasmine Paolini to me is the best fresh breath of air that women's tennis has seen in many, many years," the Eurosport presenter said.
"Besides Coco Gauff, besides Iga Swiatek - those are always gonna be there. Paolini, wow, she's such an inspiration to watch play tennis."
This summer saw Paolini win her first match at Wimbledon and, at 5ft 4in tall, she would also be the shortest Grand Slam singles champion in the Open era.
"It's so unexpected to see Jasmine Paolini in the finals at Wimbledon," the Swede added. "Not only because she got to the finals of the French Open because then it's completely unexpected, but to see her at her size - she has weapons but they shouldn't work on the grass court.
"And then never having won a match at Wimbledon before this year - those are all incredible statistics.
"Now, you watch her play, you realise, oh, she might actually have the best chance on the grass court because she's so low to the ground. She's got great hands, she's got unbelievable fighting spirit.
"And on grass these days, attitude becomes the single most important strength that you have because of the strange bounces and you're slipping and sliding. It's still a huge surprise."
Krecjikova, meanwhile, despite being widely known as one of the finest of her generation, is a surprising finalist this year.
After reaching the Australian Open quarter-finals, the Czech had only won three matches in five months before Wimbledon as she struggled with injuries, illness, and poor form.
"Of course, with Barbora Krejcikova, it's not a surprise," Wilanders added. "I mean, she hasn't had a very good year, but she's a great tennis player.
"The year she won the French Open, I thought she was going to win more Grand Slams, and she was going to win more Grand Slams in both singles and doubles the same year because she looked so naturally gifted.
"She gets the tactics of tennis and she likes playing against the hard hitters like Jenna Ostapenko, Elena Rybakina, she likes that. She can slice the ball, she can play some defence
"Against Paolini. It's a different match because Paolini is much, much craftier, having much better hands than Rybakina and Ostapenko.
"So the question is, can Krejcikova play that style of tennis against Paolini?"
Despite her size, there is serious weight in Paolini's shots. Wilander wages that despite her height, attacking her serve will actually be problematic for Krejcikova.
"From my own experience, I much, much prefer playing against a tall player that has a great serve that hits more aces than somebody who is short and has a great serve," he said.
"Of course, they're not aces, but it's very difficult to attack Paolini's first serve. It's difficult to attack the second serve too because it comes in so low because she's so short.
"So I think Krejcikova, she's not the type that attacks a lot of serves anyway, and I think she will keep the ball in play off of the return. I don't think she will choose to attack.
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"I think we're gonna have a great women's finals just like we had last year with [Ons] Jabeur and [Marketa] Vondrousova.
"It's not gonna be at the highest level, but the problem-solving is what's going to be so interesting in this match."
The two 28-year-olds will face off on Saturday afternoon at 14:00 BST, and a first-time Wimbledon champion will be crowned for the seventh year in a row.
Stream daily highlights from Wimbledon at 10pm UK time, as well as the two singles finals live on July 13 and 14, on discovery+
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