"I'm going to fight until the last ball" - Jasmine Paolini eager to lead defending champions Italy at 2025 Billie Jean King Cup

Tuesday, 16 September 2025 at 08:30

With the quarterfinals of the 2025 Billie Jean King Cup set to kick off this week, defending champions Italy are set to take on China on Tuesday. Italian No.1 Jasmine Paolini has made her intentions clear; fight until the end.

Paolini was granted the Heart Award at last year's event, after leading her home nation to the title following a disappointing loss in the 2023 final. However, the 2024 edition saw Paolini win four of her five matches, allowing Italy to be crowned World champions for the fifth time.

The 29-year old has been impressive this season, winning the WTA 1000 Rome title in front of her home crowd. Additionally, Paolini reached the final at another WTA 1000 event in Cincinnati, losing to six-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek.

Nonetheless, Paolini has maintained her stay in the top 10, where she sits at World No.8. Furthermore, she and compatriot Sara Errani have formed a formidable duo on the doubles circuit, winning titles at the French Open, Rome and Doha in 2025, as well as a runners-up finish in Berlin.

The team environment is an added bonus, admits Paolini

Ahead of Italy's showdown with China on Tuesday, Paolini revealed her excitement at reuniting with her teammates again after their triumph at last year's event.

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"It's great to be back playing the Billie Jean King Cup with the team," said Paolini. "I really like to play in a team. Every time it's [an] honor, of course, to represent Italy in this competition. But everything, it's the same. We are practicing together. We are enjoying the time together. So it's fun. Maybe it's a bit different from a single tournament, but I really like it.
"We hope to play at a good level. If I'm on the court tomorrow I’m going to fight until the last ball and hopefully it can turn out to be a good match for us."

China will be playing at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals for the first time. However, they will be without the services of their top star, Qinwen Zheng, who underwent elbow surgery prior to the 2025 US Open.

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Arthur Ajayi

Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.

As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.

With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.

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