At the beginning of the 2024 season, the tennis circuit was not aware of the Italian, Jasmine Paolini. However, things changed during the clay season. The Italian star burst onto the scene as she went on to fight for the title against Iga Swiatek, at the French Open. However, she lost the match, both in the singles and the doubles, but she made her mark. And since then, Paolini has refused to slow down. After marking an end to the season, she is headed for vacation, despite the controversy around WTA nominations.

After an exceptional season with big results: claiming the Billie Jean King Cup with Italy and an Olympic Gold in the women’s doubles with her partner, Sara Errani, Paolini headed to Maldives to rejuvenate and prepare for the upcoming season. In an Instagram post, the Italian star shared a reel featuring herself, as she used a slide to dive into the sea, with a sweet caption, “Sliding into the vacation like…. 😂🐬” at Siyam World Maldives.

However, as Paolini is busy on her vacation, a simultaneous controversy is brewing due to WTA nominations. After the end of the season, the WTA announced its nominations for different categories, including the Most Improved Player of the Year. Paolini featured in the 2 categories: Player of the Year, and the Doubles Team of the Year. However, she was not nominated for the Most Improved Player of the Year, which features, Danielle Collins, Emma Navarro, Anna Kalinskaya, Diana Shnaider, and Marta Kostyuk.

Jasmine Paolini’s tremendous rise from World No.30 at the 2023 year-end to World No.4 at the 2024 year-end is remarkable. Moreover, It’s not just in singles that she gained a firm footing. In the doubles category, Paolini rose from World No.97 to World No.9 in just 12 months. The fact that she has not been nominated for the “improved” category has raised many eyebrows at the WTA.

However, the Italian star is far away from the controversy, enjoying the sun, sea, and slides at Maldives, after raking in big wins this season!

Jasmine Paolini’s golden year in tennis

Jasmine Paolini made her professional debut in the circuit, back in 2011. It has been over a decade since then, and Paolini has consistently looked to make it big in the circuit. Her big moment finally came this year. The World No.4 claimed her first title of the season at the Linz Open and the Dubai tennis championships in singles and then went on to play the title match at the French Open, and the Wimbledon championships. Furthermore, it’s not just singles that she excelled in, during the season.

In doubles too, she claimed the Linz Open, Italian Open, China Open, and Olympics gold, apart from making it to the finals of the Wimbledon Championships. Altogether, it has been a great season for her on the court, which even reaped benefits off the court. She won $4.3 Mn in prize money, just this season, raising her career earnings to $7.1 Mn. In addition to this, Paolini drew a few more sponsors as well with her dramatic rise.

“If you win matches, of course, you have more visibility. So that’s normal that sponsors are coming. I was a little bit surprised, but I’m, of course, happy and proud of it,”– remarked Jasmine Paolini when asked about the sponsors. It has been a golden year for the Italian, after a decade-long struggle to make it big. But she finally has made it big.