Jasmine Paolini makes coaching change for Canadian Open: An active ATP Player joins her team

Two-time Grand Slam finalist Jasmine Paolini surprised upon her arrival in Montreal for the Canadian Open, after confirming that she will have an still-active player as her coach. The world No. 9 is looking to rediscover her best form in the North American swing, following some changes to her coaching team in recent months.

Towards the end of March this year, Paolini surprisingly announced her separation from Renzo Furlan, her coach for 10 years. The Italian had just reached the semifinals of the Miami Open and was still having great results working with Furlan, who was vital in guiding her to the French Open and Wimbledon finals in 2024, and establishing her as a stable top-10 player over the past year.

The separation of Paolini and Furlan was a surprising decision, in which Paolini thanked the coach who had been with her throughout her career and announced that she would start with a new coach for the clay-court swing. Paolini then joined Marc Lopez – Olympic doubles gold medalist alongside Rafa Nadal in 2016 – who was with the Italian for her triumph at the Rome Open a couple of months later – the second WTA 1000 title for the Italian.

However, the association with Lopez was not very long, and despite good joint performances, once Roland Garros finished, it was the end of the relationship with the Spaniard. "I have learned a lot and made great progress and now I am taking some time to reflect on what the next step will be. Thank you again for everything Marc,” stated the 29-year-old tennis player few weeks ago.

With the start of the hardcourt swing in North America, a new association arrives for Paolini, who aims to finish the year inside the top-10 and overcome the physical problems she's had with her knee recently. The Italian had to withdraw from the Hopman Cup a few weeks ago and this week at the Canadian Open she will play her first tournament after her surprising second-round exit at Wimbledon in early July. "How am I? The knee is a problem I've had for a while and these days it seems better," the Italian no. 1 said in press conference at Montreal. "The goal is to get back there and fix what didn't go well on grass, but the clay season definitely went better.”

Paolini arrives with news. She has incorporated Italian Federico Gaio – an active ATP Tour player, though he hasn't played matches since 2024. The 33-year-old Italian reached world No. 124 as his best ranking, and will be Paolini's coach – at least – for the next couple of months. “I'm here with Federico Gaio who will give me a hand here in Montreal, Cincinnati and the US Open. Obviously I'm looking around and with my team we are trying to organize ourselves in the best way, we will see what the future holds for us.”

"It's obvious that one thinks about the Finals, playing the Finals again would be incredible. However, I believe the right mentality is to try to do well week after week, build a level that allows you to perform well. There are obviously shorter-term term goals, in this tournament I hope to raise my level compared to the grass season, which I think will help me in subsequent tournaments.”

Paolini is the 7th seed this week in Montreal and will debut in the second round against Japan's Aoi Ito. The 21-year-old Asian player comes from successfully navigating qualifying and won her first-round match against Katie Volynets, marking her first triumph in a WTA 1000 tournament. Paolini is not defending points this week – as she was absent from Canada in 2024 – so it will be a good chance to accumulate points to maintain a strong position with an eye on staying in the top-10 and continuing in the dispute for a spot in the WTA Finals at the end of the season.