Jasmine Paolini is potentially just one win away from sealing her place at the WTA Finals in Riyadh after the No.2 seed beat Veronika Kudermetova 6-2, 7-5 in the second round at AUX Ningbo.
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Paolini will need to reach the final in Ningbo this week to qualify. However, if No. 3 seed Elena Rybakina loses before the semi-finals, Paolini would only need to advance to the final four to guarantee her place in Riyadh. Friday’s quarter-finals will see the Italian face No. 6 seed Belinda Bencic, who leads their head-to-head 2-1.
However, the key for Paolini is to get all these calculations out of his head. The goal of reaching the WTA Finals is why she is in Ningbo, but it’s not what she thinks about during matches.
“I try to focus on the pitch, on the next one,” Paolini said during his on-pitch interview. “It’s something that worries me, of course, but I try to stay focused on tennis and what I have to do.”
Against Kudermetova, that meant constant, controlled aggression to withstand the ups and downs of her opponent’s form. Paolini hit 75% of his first serves and totaled 14 winners for 17 unforced errors. In contrast, Kudermetova’s first serve percentage was down to 55% and her 22 winners were offset by 38 unforced errors.
Kudermetova broke first in each set – in the first game of the match, then in a brilliant fifth game of the second set, in which she broke Paolini with four clear winners. But each time, she immediately conceded her lead thanks to a series of quick and cheap errors. Towards the end of the second set, Kudermetova made a clutch play to keep the match close – until the final game, which saw her commit a third double fault when faced with an opening match point.
“I managed to stay there at every point, stay focused and try to find solutions,” said Paolini, who improved to 4-2 overall against Kudermetova and 2-0 in 2025 (after her three-set victory in the Cincinnati semifinals).
