Jasmine Paolini reached the fourth round of Wimbledon for the first time with a stunning win over Bianca Andreescu.
The French Open finalist and seventh seed won 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 under the roof on Court 1.
There was little difference between the two in the first set as both players looked to attack at the first opportunity, but Andreescu could not maintain her level.
Paolini, the 28-year-old Italian, enters the second week of the year having never won at Wimbledon.
It’s the continuation of a remarkable career breakthrough, as she hadn’t made it past the second round of a Grand Slam until 2024.
She will face either 12th seed Madison Keys or 18th seed Marta Kostyuk in the round of 16.
Paolini and Canada’s Andreescu met in the third round of the French Open five weeks ago, with the Italian winning in three sets.
For Andreescu, it was her first tournament in nine months since returning from a back injury, the latest in a series of serious injuries that have derailed her career since winning the U.S. Open at age 19 in 2019.
Currently ranked 176th in the world, she matched her opponent’s shots in the first set but lost steam in the second, dropping the final six games before Paolini sealed the victory with a backhand return winner.
“I think I played a good game,” said a delighted Paolini, “and tried to play aggressively, because otherwise you end up having to run a lot.”
Meanwhile, 19th seed Emma Navarro beat Russia’s Diana Schnyder 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 and will next face either second seed Coco Gauff of the United States or Sonaj Kartar of Great Britain.
