Jasmine Paolini has reached the semi-finals of the “Aux-Ningbo Open”, a WTA 500 tournament with a total prize pool of 1,064,510 dollars which is being played on the hard courts of the metropolis in the province of Zhejiang, China. The 29-year-old from Bagni di Lucca, number 8 in the ranking and second seeding favourite, fresh from the semi-final in Wuhan and looking for a pass to the WTA Finals in Riyadh, defeated, in a comeback, in the quarter-finals, the Swiss Belinda Bencic, 14 in the international ranking and sixth force in the draw. The Italian lost the first half 7-5. Then she won the other two sets with a score of 7-5 6-3. For the Swiss, problems with her right thigh during the third set. In the semi-final Paolini, ever closer to obtaining the pass to the Finals, will challenge the winner of the match between Ajla Tomljanovic and Elena Rybakina. In the event of a knockout in the quarterfinals of the latter, the Italian would mathematically be admitted to the “Master” in Riyadh.
“One of the toughest games I’ve ever played”
“It was one of the toughest matches I’ve ever played. She is an extraordinary player and perhaps – underlined Paolini – she deserved to win today. I’m happy to have managed to stay in the match and fight every point, after a bad start. I changed a few things and it went well. I felt better and better, little by little, during the match”.