Jasmine Paolini is a compact, quick counter-puncher who became a grass contender almost overnight when she reached the Wimbledon final in 2024. Troubled by a foot problem through 2026, she still reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals and finished 16th in the women’s GTC Grass Rankings with a GTC Grass Rating of 110, unchanged from her preseason figure.
Grass at a glance
- GTC Grass Rating: 110, 16th in the women’s rankings (14th before the season)
- Pillars: Lawn Form 66, Arsenal 68, Wimbledon 58, Nerve 52
- Nationality: Italy
- Best Wimbledon result: Runner-up (2024)
- Grass titles: None yet
- Plays: Right-handed, two-handed backhand
How Jasmine plays on grass
At 1.63 m Paolini is one of the shortest players near the top of the women’s game, and on grass that is less of a handicap than it looks. The low bounce comes through at a height she likes, and she takes the ball early off both wings, using a heavy forehand to move opponents and a flat backhand to change direction. She returns aggressively and is quick enough to turn defence into attack in one shot.
The serve is the limit. It does not produce many free points, which puts pressure on her return games and leaves her exposed against bigger servers. Her Arsenal score of 68 balances quick feet and clean hitting against that weakness.
Her Nerve score of 52 is her lowest pillar. Opponents who slice and vary pace, as Tatjana Maria did at Eastbourne this year, can unsettle her rhythm and draw errors from a game that depends on clean timing.
Grass record
Her breakthrough came in 2024, when she reached the Wimbledon final and lost to Barbora Krejčíková 2-6, 6-2, 4-6. It remains her only grass singles final and her best result on the surface.
The follow-up was modest. In 2025 she reached the Bad Homburg semi-final, losing to Iga Świątek, but lost in the second round of Wimbledon to Kamilla Rakhimova. She was also runner-up in the Berlin doubles in 2025 with Sara Errani.
The 2026 grass season
A foot injury kept Paolini out of Berlin, and her rating held at 110. She returned as top seed at Eastbourne and lost in the first round to Tatjana Maria, 6-4, 6-3, with Maria’s slice causing her problems; the rating dipped to 109.
At Wimbledon, seeded 13th, she won four matches, the last a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 win over Alexandra Eala in the fourth round. Marta Kostyuk, the 12th seed, then beat her 6-3, 6-2 in the quarter-final, and her rating returned to 110. After Wimbledon she withdrew from Washington and Toronto to rest the foot, which she said had troubled her for most of the year.
Looking ahead to 2027
Fitness is the first issue for 2027. A sound foot would allow her to play a warm-up event such as Berlin or Bad Homburg and arrive at Wimbledon with more grass matches behind her, which would lift a Lawn Form score held down by this year’s withdrawal and early Eastbourne loss. Technically, more first-serve points would ease the pressure on her return games. Her 2024 final and 2026 quarter-final show she can go deep at Wimbledon, and a realistic target is another quarter-final there and a first grass title.
