"I think it’s getting better — I’m feeling better, feeling more positive on court" - Jasmine Paolini finding positives from stagnant period after Rome Open title defence collapses

This time last year, Jasmine Paolini charged to a famous title on home soil. A year later at the Rome Open, a third round defeat Elise Mertens backs up a worrying trend of form with early exits becoming normality. With Roland Garros just around the corner and a drop in the WTA rankings, the Italian ponders how to get back to her best level.

Speaking after the match, a very sombre Paolini looked back on her defeat against the Belgian. "Yes, it’s a tough loss, especially because of the score and how it was," she told the press. "But she’s a great player, very solid. I think she played very well on the important points. Me, I could have been a little bit smarter sometimes, so it’s tough, but it’s tennis and it can happen."

Despite her poor recent form, she admitted that going on the court today she was feeling good, but the performance could not live up to the standards. "I think today I was feeling good, you know, and I played some good match points — especially the third one — but unfortunately it’s tennis and it can happen. It’s tough to get through this loss because I’m in Italy, I want to play more matches, I wanted to play more matches. It’s nice to play in front of this crowd and they give me energy, but today it wasn’t enough — from my side, not from the people."

She did give her opponent her flowers. "I think she’s very solid. You always have to play one more ball, and she has very good hands when she defends. Her serve is also very good. You have to play well to beat her, I think, from the start until the end of the match. I’m sad because I was playing well, but in the important moments of the match, as I said, I wasn’t that solid or that brave. At this level, you pay for that."

Paolini is in a really torrid period when it comes to results. Dropping out of the top 10 for the first time in almost two year come the end of this tournament, she is on the slide. Her best result at Grand Slam or Masters 1000 level was at the Indian Wells where she reached the fourth round. A third round exit in her title defence on home soil is another step in the wrong direction. It is not the time to be negative as 30-year-old aims to find the positives from a bleak spell.

"I’m not really happy about my results, of course, but I think I have to try to be more positive and look forward to the next tournaments," she stated. "I think it’s getting better — I’m feeling better, feeling more positive on court, and that’s important.

"Today was a tough opponent. I was competitive, I stayed there, I managed to play my game, and that’s important to me. Then we have to adjust a few things, I know that, to win these kinds of matches. But it’s getting better and that’s important to me."

She was unsure on how different her game was from two years ago, highlighting the contrast in tennis in terms of results on a weekly basis. "I don’t know. Two years ago I lost in the first round here and then I made the final at French Open, so tennis is like that — positive and negative things sometimes," she said.

"I know that I have to stay there every tournament. I know that I have to put quality on the court, off the court, practising in the gym, and then be more lucid in the important points. I think playing more high-quality matches also helps you in those moments.

"But I think we are going in the right direction. As I said, I’m feeling better and that’s important. Tennis is like that — sometimes it goes well, sometimes not — but the important thing for me is to stay there, believe in it and take the chance. But to take the chance, you have to stay there and believe it."

She was dearly hoping that this poor spell on court is just temporary and that soon enough she can return to her best on court. "Beyond the result today, which obviously hurts a lot, there were moments where I felt good on court. I was competitive, positive, and that’s what I’m looking for.

"From here, I have to try to be a little more solid and colder in the important moments, as I said before, but we have to start from this level of tennis. Then we have to learn something, for sure. Honestly, when I play at this level, I enjoy it. I look for it, because I think it’s also the most fun part, and I get more energy from it. I really like playing at this level.

"I just have to be careful not to fall into negativity. I know that if I do things well, the level is there. There will be ups and downs, matches that go badly and matches that go better, but the important thing is to keep the level right."

In the second set whilst leading 6-5, three match points came and went on the Mertens serve. Paolini would then see her opponent storm ahead in the tiebreak and win the set for herself. She reacted to the missed opportunity. "Sometimes I do things that I never do. I think I’d never done a set point like that before, or maybe only very few times," she said.

"I only got to that ball, thought about doing it, and it went wrong. At the same time, that’s also who I am. Sometimes it can be my strength. Two points before, I hit a shot going backwards that worked perfectly, and that’s also not something I usually do.

"More than those points, I probably regret how I played the match points, especially the third one. I could have done more there. The double fault in the tie-break as well — I think it was at 2-2 — those are the points where I can play better. The set point was also difficult. I played well to get there, I made something special, but yes, I have to be more lucid in the moments before those points."

She went through each match point and explained where she went wrong. "The first one, I was a little surprised by myself because I started the point a little too straight, almost as if I hadn’t checked properly. It was strange," she admitted. "The second one, I probably just wanted to put the ball in the court and I missed it — it can happen. The third one was worse. I was behind the baseline and I missed the backhand into the net. That was really bad.

"Honestly, if I could go back now, I would play a little more aggressively and a little calmer. I knew it was going to be a tough match because I know the player — she gives you nothing, every point you have to earn yourself. But this is tennis. Sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn’t. Today it went like this."

With all of this comes that inevitable slump in the rankings. She will still have to defend a Cincinnati Open final later this year along with a semi-final and quarterfinal at WTA 1000 level on the Asian swing. Paolini somewhat dismissed the ranking, focusing on getting back to her old self.

"The ranking — it’s banal to say it — but it’s always a consequence of the level," she proclaimed. "As I said before, I’m trying to focus on putting quality into everything: when I go on court, every practice session, physically as well, because I know that will allow me to have a high level and take the chances that come to me.

"Today was a tough match. I was playing well, but I probably didn’t use my chances. I have to be a bit more lucid, a bit colder in those moments. Maybe not having played so many matches at this level this year didn’t help me, but I think I feel better than two or three months ago, and that’s the important thing — to raise the level, stay there and take the chances that come."

Up next is Roland Garros. Paolini reached the final back in 2024, losing to a rampant Iga Swiatek. If there is anywhere to get back to her imperious best, the second Grand Slam of the year is a good one to do so. "I think in the last couple of tournaments I’ve been playing better, and at this tournament I was feeling good. I think I have to be more solid on the important points, to play those kinds of points better.

"The first round here had a lot of ups and downs, and today as well, so I have to try to be there every point when I have the chance to take it. Right now sometimes I take the chance, sometimes not, and at the high level of tennis, one match you can win, the next maybe the opponent will win. So I have to be more consistent in those kinds of points."