Jasmine Paolini was the latest victim of Wimbledon’s spate of giant-killings as last year’s runner-up suffered a shock second-round exit against Russian World No. 62 Kamilla Rakhimova on Wednesday.

Just 12 months after her run to the All England Club final, Paolini followed a host of highly-ranked seeds out of the grass-court Grand Slam. The Italian fourth seed, beaten by Barbora Krejcikova in the 2024 Wimbledon title match, slumped to a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 loss in two hours and 18 minutes on Court Three. 
“It was a tough one. I’m still thinking about the second set. I could do much better. I had many, many chances, I did some stupid mistakes. I need to stay there mentally much better. My attention was going up and down all the time. I don’t know why,” said Paolini. 

After reaching the French Open and Wimbledon finals last year, Paolini has failed to make the quarter-finals in each of her last four Grand Slam appearances.
“It’s tough to accept. I’m a little bit tired now. It was two intense months before coming here. If I want to compete at this level I have to be focussed all the time, not like I was today,” she added.