From the Australian Open to the French Open, from leading to being reversed, against the same opponent, Paolini is improving

As we all know, in WTA professional tennis, the tournament is played in a best-of-three format. In this way, the person who wins the first set first will be closer to victory. However, this year, whether it is the Australian Open or the French Open, there is a player who failed to grasp the lead after winning the first set, and was reversed by his opponent in two sets in a row. Even more surprising was the fact that the player was reversed by the same opponent in both Grand Slam events. So, who exactly is this player? Who is the opponent she has encountered? Today, let this article take you to take a look.

That player is Italian Paulini, who won her first WTA tournament in early 2021. It was also in that year that Paolini won his first career tour title. Every year since, Paolini has improved. She has reached two Grand Slam finals, won WTA1000 tennis tournaments, and is ranked in the top 10 in the world.

In January this year, after the first round of the Australian Open swept the Chinese women's tennis player Wei Sijia, who had just entered the first Grand Slam main draw of her career, Paulini defeated Mexico's Zarazouha and won two consecutive victories at the Australian Open for two consecutive years and successfully advanced. In the third round, she faced Ukraine's Svitolina, a former year-end champion and a WTA1000 and Grand Slam tournament.

At the start of the first set, Svitolina relied on accurate serve and sharp baseline attack to take the lead. However, Paolini quickly adjusted his tactics and broke the opponent's serve twice with excellent volleys in front of the net and a steady baseline volley, and finally took the next game 6-2.

Dropping a set first did not dampen Svitolina's morale. In the second set, she relied on a more consistent play to pull one back 6-4. In the deciding set, Svitolina was in complete control of the pace of the match, and with accurate landing points and strong offensive firepower, she won six games in a row to complete a big comeback.

Since then, both Paulini and Svitolina have won tour titles and performed well. The pair sang all the way at Roland Garros last week and finally met again in the quarter-finals. In the first set, both men broke their opponents' serves, and the score remained dead. At the critical moment, Paulini broke the opponent's serve and took the next game 6:4 to occupy the opportunity to advance.

In the second set, Paulini took the lead by breaking his opponent's serve again. Although Svitolina closed the gap, Paulini was the first to get match point and she was already within easy reach of promotion. At this time, Svitolina did not give up and saved two match points in a row to tie the score. After that, both sides guaranteed one game each, and the game went into a tie-break. In the tie-break, Svitolina once again defused the match point and won the tie-break 8-6 to drag the match into the deciding set.

In the deciding set, Svitolina broke consecutive serve and took a big lead. After that, she didn't give Paulini a chance, and won the match with another neat 6-1 comeback victory. In this way, from the Australian Open to the French Open, Paolini failed to grasp the lead in the first game, and was reversed by the same opponent, Ukrainian player Svitolina, in two sets in a row.

However, from swallowing eggs in the Australian Open deciding set to winning a game in the French Open deciding set, Paulini's progress can already be seen. What's more, from being beaten defenseless in the second set of the Australian Open to winning the match point in the second set of the French Open, there is no doubt that Paulini has improved. I believe that in the future competitions, she can achieve good results, so let's wait and see. That's it for today, and it will continue tomorrow.(Source: Tennis Home Author: Yixin Jushi)