Iga Swiatek congratulating Jasmine Paolini on the Italian’s maiden WTA 1000 title win at the 2024 Dubai Tennis Championships has sparked reactions from tennis fans worldwide.
Paolini’s journey in Dubai this year was nothing short of a fairytale. She scored victories over Beatriz Haddad Maia, former US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez and Maria Sakkari, in the first three rounds. She then received a walkover from Elena Rybakina before defeating Sorana Cirstea in the semifinals.
n the final, Paolini faced another formidable opponent in Anna Kalinskaya on Saturday (February 24), who had to battle through the qualifiers to reach the main draw and beat Coco Gauff and World No. 1 Iga Swiatek on the way.
It wasn’t an easy task for Jasmine Paolini to overcome Kalinskaya, as she had to mount a comeback from a break down in both the second and third sets. The Italian eventually won with a score of 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 and the victory marked her second WTA singles title in her nine-year tour-level career.
Paolini received many congratulatory messages from her colleagues and fans worldwide following her exploits in the Middle East. Among them was Iga Swiatek, who took to X (formerly Twitter) and wrote:
“Gratulacje [Congratulations] Jasmine! What a week.”
Tennis fans have now flooded X with their reactions to Swiatek cheering Paolini on her victory, despite losing in the semifinals of the WTA 1000 tournament herself. One user said that it’s a “shame” that the Pole can’t count on her colleagues to show similar support to her.
“It’s a shame she can’t count on the other girls to do the same for her,” the user wrote.