Jasmine Paolini (Twitter)
The defending champion Jasmine Paolini takes on the World No. 72 Kaja Juvan in the round of 16 of the Slovenia Open on Thursday.
The World No. 55 reached the semifinals of the Palermo Ladies Open and the Poland Open, where she lost to Lucia Bronzetti and Caroline Garcia respectively. At the recently-concluded US Open, Paolini had a tough draw as she had to face the eventual champion, Iga Swiatek, in the very first round. The Italian tennis pro lost in straight sets 3-6, 0-6.
In Slovenia, Paolini began with a comprehensive win against Tara Wurth in the round of 32. The former won the match 7-5, 6-1 to make it to the second round.
The Slovenian tennis pro reached the semifinals of this tournament in 2021. Juvan made it to the finals of the WTA 250 event in Strasbourg, France before losing to Angelique Kerber in a closely-contested match. The 21-year-old managed to reach the third round at Wimbledon before being outplayed by Heather Watson. At the US Open, Juvan lost in the first round to Cristina Bucsa.
The youngster began with a bang at the Slovenia Open with a stunning upset win against French veteran Alize Cornet. Juvan won the match 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 against the sixth-seeded Cornet.
The head-to-head on the WTA Tour stands at 0-0 as Kaja Juvan and Jasmine Paolini have not faced each other before. However, they met once on the ITF scene in 2018 in Italy, when Juvan got a 6-7, 6-1, 7-5 victory.
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