Jasmine Paolini vs Kamilla Rakhimova

Jasmine Paolini vs Kamilla Rakhimova – Wimbledon 2025 Preview

Tournament: Wimbledon, WTA Main Draw – 2nd Round

Date: July 3, 2025

Surface: Grass

Location: All England Club, London

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🧠 Form & Context

Jasmine Paolini

• 💪 Slam momentum: The Italian has already reached finals at both Roland-Garros and Wimbledon in the past 12 months, with a recent semifinal in Bad Homburg confirming her solid grass form.
• 📈 Peaking: Rallied past Sevastova in R1 and has compiled a strong 28–11 season, including a Rome title and a Miami SF.
• 🟢 Growing confidence: After years of early Slam exits, Paolini is now consistently winning in the first weeks of majors.
• 📍 Wimbledon record: 2024 finalist; this is only her second time past R1 outside of last year’s dream run.
• 🔥 Top-10 status: With a top-5 ranking now, expectations have shifted, and she’s proving she can meet them.

Kamilla Rakhimova

• 🚨 Upset alert? Rallied past Ito in R1 for her maiden Wimbledon main-draw win and has quietly pieced together a 7–3 grass campaign.
• 📊 Underdog surge: Qualified for Eastbourne and reached QF, beating Cocciaretto and Stearns.
• ❗ Slam breakthrough sought: Has never reached the third round of a Grand Slam—2–2 in career 2R appearances.
• 📉 Top-10 struggles: 0–7 in career against top-10 players; has never even taken a set.
• 🎾 Solid warm-up form: Recently played 9 matches in 11 days between Eastbourne and Wimbledon.

🔍 Match Breakdown

Rakhimova's flat baseline game and quick reactions can work well on grass, but this is a major step up in quality and pressure. While she’s scrappy and mentally tough, Paolini's athleticism, varied rally patterns, and improved serve should give her control over longer rallies and key moments.

Paolini’s ability to adjust mid-match was on display against Sevastova, and she has shown that she can deal with different match tempos. If she brings her A-game from the start, she should not allow Rakhimova to hang around and gain confidence.

The key: depth and angles. Paolini thrives when she pulls opponents wide and opens the court—something Rakhimova has struggled to contain against elite players.

🔮 Prediction

Unless fatigue or nerves creep in, Paolini has too many tools and too much recent pedigree for Rakhimova to handle.

Prediction: Paolini in 2 sets, likely with one competitive stretch but no major alarm.