Nearly a year to the day of their first meeting on the WTA tour, Jasmine Paolini and Yue Yuan will face each other on Chinese soil once again in the round of 32 at the Wuhan Open on Wednesday.
In her opening match at this tournament, Yuan defeated Clara Burel in three sets 1-6 6-4 6-2, while Paolini is coming off a surprising round of 32 defeat at the China Open, falling to Magda Linette 4-6 0-6.
Match preview
© Imago
It has been an up-and-down year for Jasmine Paolini, making it to the final of two Grand Slam singles events but failing to claim victory on both occasions at Wimbledon and the French Open.
Since losing the singles final at the All England Club versus Iga Swiatek, Paolini has not made it further than the round of 16 at any WTA event.
Her last victory on tour occurred in Asia, but it feels like a long time ago when she captured the Dubai Open in February, defeating Anna Kalinskaya in three sets (4-6 7-5 7-5).
Paolini has not lost a round of 32 encounter on the WTA tour since the Miami Open, when Emma Navarro claimed a 2-6 6-3 0-6 upset victory.
The heavy topspin on Paolini's forehand has been a huge weapon for her, with the Italian converting nearly half (49.4%) of her break point opportunities in 2024.
That element of her game is needed as her height at 1.63m makes it difficult for her to overwhelm opponents with a big serve, as Paolini has hit a mere 71 aces this year.
© Imago
After nearly everything went wrong in her opening set, Yue Yuan picked up the slack in the final two sets of her round of 64 clash to emerge victorious.
Yuan won 61% of her first serves against Burel, benefitting from the French woman's countless errors, as she committed six double faults, while Yuan had just one.
Not since the Abierto GNP Seguros in August has she won her second match in a singles tournament, defeating Petra Martic on that occasion, before being ousted in the quarter-finals by Ekaterina Alexandrova.
Many of her best tournament performances have been on the hard court this year, including her only WTA victory of 2024, beating fellow Chinese player Xiyu Wang in the ATX final.
She has played 43 matches so far this year, winning 62.7% of her first serves over that stretch and 64.4% of her service games.
In 2024, Yuan saved 55% of her break points and converted 40.3% of her break point opportunities while winning 33% of her return games.
Tournament so far
Yue Yuan:
Round of 64: vs. Clara Burel 1-6 6-4 6-2
Head To Head
China Open (2023) - Second Round: Yuan wins 2-6 6-3 6-4
The first time these two met, Yuan won 66% of her first serve points, while Paolini only won 51% of hers, while Yuan saved three of her eight break points, and Paolini failed to save any.
We say: Paolini to win in three sets
Yuan may have the crowd behind her, but Paolini should be used to tough environments like that, and her power on the forehand and backhand are two strengths that will make her tough to beat at this event.
Joel Lefevre
