ROLAND GARROS

June 6, 2024

Jasmine Paolini

Press Conference

J. PAOLINI/M. Andreeva

6-3, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Jasmine, congratulations. Into your first Grand Slam final. Can you just give us your thoughts and your emotions that you're feeling right now,

JASMINE PAOLINI: I'm really happy. Really, really happy. Yeah, it's a great feeling to be in a Grand Slam final. I don't know. It seems something impossible, you know (laughing), but it's true.

So I'm really happy to be in this position, yeah.

THE MODERATOR: English questions, please.

Q. To a lot of people who maybe don't follow tennis a lot or outside Italy they are maybe just getting to know you from this run here at Roland Garros. How would you describe to them your tennis life so far, and also, how would you describe yourself as a person off the court?

JASMINE PAOLINI: I think I'm really easy person. Yeah, I like to smile, to enjoy. Nothing special. You know, normal person. Yeah, that's myself. Nothing special.

Q. Your tennis journey?

JASMINE PAOLINI: It's a long journey, I think. I started to play tennis when I was 5, and I fell in love with the sport. I really like to play tennis. I feel good when I play.

So, yeah, it's part of my life, yeah.

Q. Have you ever imagined to be in a Grand Slam final when you were young?

JASMINE PAOLINI: I don't know. That's tough question. Of course, I was watching, you know, Grand Slam finals. I was watching the other Italians make it in the finals, and also won Grand Slams, but imagine that can be myself was tough. Of course, I wished, but now it's something, you know, it's something crazy for me. I'm really happy. Also surprised.

Yeah, that's the feeling right now.

Q. You spoke about the importance of dreams on the court. Can you recall your first dream of tennis? What did you dream tennis would be for you or what you would be in tennis?

JASMINE PAOLINI: When I started to play tennis, I was just enjoying. Yeah, I was not dreaming too much. I was just enjoying playing tennis.

Then I started to train like a professional tennis player. I was dreaming to become a professional, and I never dreamed to be, you know, No. 1, Grand Slam champion. Never dreamed so big. Never.

Never maybe dream to be in the top 10, but I was hoping, but not really believe it, you know, believe in this. I think step by step I started to believe, but to dream, but for closer things. You know, not too far.

That I think it's not so positive because, you know, I think it's important to dream, but I started to dream I think step by step. Not, you know, too far away.

For me it's surprising to see interviews from Nole when he was a kid saying that he wanted to be World No. 1 and Wimbledon. I watch this, and I said, it's unbelievable that you can dream as a child. I didn't dream it, you know, when I was a child.

It's unbelievable to see Jannik when he was 15 years old say that his dream was to be No. 1, and for me it's something different. I never dreamed to be I think in a Grand Slam final, and I'm here. I'm so happy, but it's something different. I'm a different kind of person I think.

Q. The feeling you had on court today, how was that different to yesterday, and how do you think it will be different to Saturday?

JASMINE PAOLINI: Today I was so nervous. It was a different match against Mirra than against Elena. I lost with her one month ago, and it was a really tough match mentally and physically because she's so consistent.

I was so nervous, but, you know, I step on court, and I try to hit the ball, to move fast, to be in the present, to play point-by-point. Then when I break her in the first set, I started to feel better and better.

But I think the match was a little bit different than against Elena, you know. Elena is so aggressive, so it's different kind of match I think, yeah.

Q. The past couple of days you talk about the importance of like self-belief and confidence. So when you are confident, how much does your play change? I mean, what kind of things can you do when you are confident?

JASMINE PAOLINI: Yeah, I think my level can raise up, you know. I step on court, as I said, in those days believing that I can win the match. That I think makes all the difference, you know.

To step on court and to believe that you can win, it's totally different way to see the match. Yeah, when you are not confident, it's a little bit more complicated in tennis I think because it's a really mental sport, so it's not easy when you start to lose match-by-match. It's easier when you win matches.

So, yeah, I think confidence, it helps you to maybe less mistakes, you play more deep, you take the chances when you have. I think that's the difference.

Q. I know you have Polish roots and you speak Polish well, and Iga congratulated you when you won Dubai earlier this year. I just wondered what your relationship with Iga is like.

JASMINE PAOLINI: I try to speak in Polish, but it's not easy. I'm a little bit shy because I'm not feeling really confident in it, but of course, when I see her, I say congratulation for the title she can win. The same, she does. She congratulate me after Dubai. She wish me good luck after matches when we meet in the locker room.

So, yeah, I try to speak Polish, but, you know, it's not easy for me, but we have relationship, yeah.

Q. I remember you reaching the final in Monastir. Apparently it brought you luck. A month ago you lost against Mayar Sherif in Rome. How did you bounce back from that loss? What was your mindset after that loss?

JASMINE PAOLINI: That match was really tough. Mayar is a really tough player I think on clay court, and the condition there in Rome in the late night wasn't I think the best for me, but yeah, I just accepted that. I was focused on doubles. We won the doubles there in Rome.

I think that give me confidence also to stay in tournament, to have some positive vibes. But, you know, it can happen in tennis. Every week is different. Every week is a new challenge, so it's not easy to confirm every -- you know, your result every week. Just few players can do that.

Yeah, it's unbelievable what the top players, like Iga, Nole, Jannik are doing. It's something crazy, yeah.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about what Renzo has done for you and how he has helped you this week or so in the tournament, and also about Sara Errani and how she's helped you? This is new territory for Renzo, but it's not for Sara.

JASMINE PAOLINI: No, we speak a lot the beginning of the tournament because I was a little bit nervous in the practice. Things weren't going so well in the practice, so you know, there was a little bit of tension, but then we spoke a lot with Renzo to try to understand more myself, my feelings. Then match by match was getting better, and here we are (laughing).

Of course, Sara, yes, is helping me a lot. Also playing doubles with her helps me a lot. Yeah, I can ask her some advices, and I think it's a really smart person to have close, you know. So it's something positive, of course, for me and my team as well.

Q. I will ask about Iga. How do you feel before the game with the World No. 1? Iga, which you know, for example, from Warsaw tournament two years ago, and how are you going to start the interaction with her? Maybe you're going to say hello, "czesc," in Polish at the beginning.

JASMINE PAOLINI: Yeah, I'm going to say that. Iga is unbelievable player, as I said. So young, but so many achievement and Grand Slams. Here she won three times.

She's doing well week by week, and that's not easy. So I have huge respect for her, but I would like, my goal is to step on court Saturday and try to enjoy the match and to enjoy that moment and to try to play a good match and to make a good performance on court, you know, yeah.

Q. Sometimes tennis is such a tough, tough sport. Sometimes players, they're not so happy, but you seem to have just a great deal of joy. Can you talk about that? Where has that come from? Does that help sustain you?

JASMINE PAOLINI: It's not always like that, but I try. Honestly, I smile a lot. You can see it, but it's not always like that.

When I'm not smiling, it means that I'm not feeling great. My coach is always worried when I don't smile in the practice, in the match. He said to me always to enjoy, to smile because it's important for myself, for me as a person. So just, you know, smile and take it easy. Maybe I can say that.

It's not easy sometimes because things are not going always well, but I'm happy that, you know, I'm like that (laughing), that I smile a lot.

Q. What's the reason that you are now playing so much better than you did in most of the early part of your career? Can you sort of pinpoint one special day or match when you had the feeling it switched and you are better now than you used to be?

JASMINE PAOLINI: I don't think there is, you know, a special moment when it changed. I think it was like a process. I started to play better and better, to play better against also top players because before I was, like, 6-1, 6-1 or 6-2, 6-1 and no match, but then I started to be there.

I lost all the matches, more or less, against the top players, but I was getting closer and closer, you know. That helped me with the confidence.

Now with more matches, let's say, in my pocket, I feel more confidence in my game, in myself. So, as I said many times, I step on court believing that I can win those matches, and that's I think the main click that I did then, you know.