Australian Open 2025: Jasmine Paolini on avoiding ‘second season syndrome’ after Melbourne exit

People call me a ‘late bloomer’ because of what happened last year.

I had never gone past the second round of a Grand Slam tournament before, and then I reached the Australian Open fourth round before my runs at the French Open and Wimbledon.

I also had more success in the doubles and won Olympic gold with my good friend Sara Errani in Paris. It was a special, special year.

So what changed? Of course, things don’t change overnight.

Every week we tried to add something which improved my game and, of course, winning matches is what really helps.

I had a good finish to the 2023 season which meant I started 2024 with more confidence in my game.

I was nervous when I came to Melbourne because I had never gone past the first round here.

After I won the first match here, I felt a huge amount of relief and things continued to improve.

I reached the fourth round before losing to Anna Kalinskaya, so a run like that gave me much more confidence for the whole year.

Because I’m in my late 20s, sometimes I thought the chance of having this kind of success had gone.