By Richard Pagliaro | @TennisNow | Thursday, July 3, 2025
Photo credit: Rob Newell/CameraSport
Wimbledon—A year ago, Jasmine Paolini’s mega-watt smile and electric forehand made her one of the brightest lights at Wimbledon.
In her SW19 return, Paolini’s focus flickered and she faded in a second-round loss.
Winless in seven prior meetings vs. Top 10 opponents, world No. 80 Kamilla Rakhimova bounced 2024 finalist Paolini out of the Wimbledon second round 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Rakhimova said she played pretender to take down the 2024 contender.
“I’m very excited about this win. I think I deserved this today, but she fought hard as well,” Rakhimova said. “Just I try not to think about the openings and I try to focus on my game. It worked for me.
“I just pretend I’m playing a normal girl and not number four in the world and I think I enjoy myself.”
After suffering her earliest major exit since she lost in the first round of the 2023 US Open, Paolini said she struggled to maintain concentration.
“It was a tough one. I’m still thinking about the second set,” Paolini said. “I could do much better. She play a great match.
“But honestly, I could play better, especially mentally, to stay there little bit more and more focused. My attention was going up and down all the time.”
Four of the Top 5 ladies’ seeds—second-seeded Coco Gauff, third-seeded Jessica Pegula, fourth-seeded Paolini and No. 5-seeded Qinwen Zheng—all went down in the first three days of play leaving world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka as the only Top 5 seed still standing.
The pressure of defending her 2024 finals points seemed to weigh on the 5’3” Italian’s shoulders.
Last July,French Open finalist Paolini battled back from a break down in the final set out-dueling unseeded Donna Vekic 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(8) in a wildly exhilarating and epic semifinal to surge into her second straight Grand Slam final at Wimbledon.
Paolini prevailed in an extraordinary two hour, 51-minute match—the longest Wimbledon ladies’ semifinal in Open Era history—to hit her way into history.
In the process, Paolini became the first Italian woman in the Open Era to reach the Wimbledon final—and the first Italian woman in Open Era history to contest two major finals at two different Grand Slams.
The pressure—and the spotlight—left Paolini feeling drained in her Wimbledon return.
“I think I feel a little bit tired right now. Is tough to accept,” Paolini said. “Was two intense months before here. I don’t know, maybe I could skip the first tournament after Roland Garros, Berlin, like I did last year to rest a little bit. But, I mean, doesn’t make sense to talk about now these kind of things.
“I was hoping today to stand on court and try to focus every point. But, as I said before, my attention was going up and down. The goal, for sure, for the next part of the season is to reset a little bit and try to mentally stay there every point.”
