"We athletes are a bit snubbed in Italy": Jasmine Paolini says Jannik Sinner's success has inspired and shone a spotlight on Italian tennis

Following her spectacular run to the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships title last week, Italian star Jasmine Paolini recently admitted the success of compatriot Jannik Sinner has also helped put the spotlight on women's tennis in their home country.

Paolini shocked the tennis community by winning her first WTA 1000 title in Dubai last week, defeating Russian Anna Kalinskaya in an entertaining final. The unseeded Italian overcame the likes of Leylah Fernandez and Maria Sakkari en route to the final, where she rallied from a set down to beat Kalinskaya and win the biggest title of her career.

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Sinner's popularity helped spike an interest in Italian women's tennis

Paolini is not the only Italian to dominate the headlines this season, although her performance in Dubai saw her reach a career-high ranking of World No.14. Compatriot Jannik Sinner has also been making noise on the ATP Tour, capturing his maiden Grand Slam title at this year's Australian Open. Subsequently, Sinner would go on to win the title in Rotterdam two weeks later, and is currently undefeated this season. Paolini had high praise for her ATP counterpart, pointing out how his success on tour was good for both men's and women's tennis in Italy.

"We athletes are a bit snubbed in Italy... it's a cultural issue, profound and complex," said Paolini in an interview with Gazzetta. "It will still take a long time to resolve it… In any case, the wave of popularity that was brought by Sinner did us girls some good too."

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