Jasmine Paolini defeated Magda Linette in straight sets to become the first Italian woman to go to the Miami Open semifinals.
Rain delayed Tuesday’s play at the WTA 1000 event, but Paolini quickly secured her last-four spot when the players were eventually cleared to begin.
In the first game of the competition, the two-time grand slam runner-up lost serve, but she quickly rallied with consecutive breaks of her own.
with winning the first set, Paolini quickly broke to extend her lead into the second set with a pivotal hold in a five-deuce fifth game.
In the second set, the world number seven had five break points, but she persevered through each of those pressure points and won 6-3 6-2 after Linette’s cross-court backhand went long.
With either world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka or ninth seed Zheng Qinwen up next, Paolini is assured a difficult draw in the semifinals.
Paolini raises the flag during the data debrief
Paolini is the only Italian woman to make it to the Miami Open semifinals since the tournament’s inception in 1985.
At the age of 29, this is only her second trip to a WTA 1000 semifinal.
She is the fifth-oldest woman to advance to her second WTA 1000 semifinal, following Danielle Collins, Sorana Cirstea, Ekaterina Alexandrova, and Nadia Petrova, all of whom made it to their second semifinal in Miami.
