Jasmine Paolini delivered her standard good humor ahead of the Coco Gauff showdown as the Italian funnily acknowledged it won't be easy to beat the home star on these hard courts, before remarking that even changing the surface overnight to clay wouldn't guarantee her success.
In the past, Gauff beat Paolini on the hard courts of Adelaide in 2021, before also clinching a routine 6-3 6-2 win in the 2023 Cincinnati quarterfinal. After not playing in 2024, the Italian - who made two Grand Slam finals last year - got her first wins over the world No. 2 in the spring after ending triumphant on the clay courts of Stuttgart and Rome.
But unlike in their previous two 2025 meetings, this time the conditions will be completely different. And since Paolini still perfectly remembers what happened in their previous Cincinnati clash, she is aware that beating Gauff will be all but easy.
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Paolini cracks jokes ahead of the Gauff match in Cincinnati
"I should play like on the clay court but it's tough to play here. You know, it's so different here, it's so fast. Yeah, a couple of years ago I won five games," the ninth-ranked Italian said after beating Barbora Krejcikova and when addressing her next rival.
The on-court interviewer interjected by saying: "Well, listen, Ben Navarro spent 260 million dollars. Maybe we can get some clay brought in before your match. We'll make it into a clay court match."
Paolini funnily thanked the interviewer, before acknowledging that Gauff won this year's French Open.
"Thank you very much. I'm not sure it's good on clay. Because she won Roland Garros," the 29-year-old said.
After cracking a couple of jokes, Paolini will certainly look to clinch her first hard win over the home staron Friday in Cincinnati.
