It’s quite the understatement to say Italian tennis is having a moment.
Jannik Sinner’s brilliance is one thing, but it’s a nation coming off a Davis Cup three-peat, as well as being crowned back-to-back champions in the Billie Jean King Cup, and which won a gold medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Four Italian men sit inside the ATP top 30, two of them in the top 10.
And then there’s Jasmine Paolini, ranked No.8 in singles and No.3 in doubles, heading to the United Cup determined to make Italy’s trophy cabinet even heavier.
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Partnering her United Cup teammate Sara Errani, Paolini captured doubles titles in Rome, Beijing and Doha, all at the WTA 1000 level, claimed her first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros, and helped lead Italy to a second consecutive Billie Jean King Cup title in September.
That run alone would qualify as a career year, but Paolini – who combined with Errani to win that doubles gold medal at Paris 2024 – also held her place inside the singles top 10. Her season was highlighted by her Rome WTA 1000 victory over Coco Gauff, making her the first Italian woman in 40 years to win the event. She also made a finals appearance at WTA 1000 level in Cincinnati.
In November, fresh off her second straight appearance at the WTA Finals in Riyadh, Paolini flew back to Turin to support Lorenzo Musetti against Alex de Minaur at the ATP Finals, drawing a loud ovation the moment she appeared on the big screen.
Sinner went on to win the title, but Paolini’s reception was its own statement, a reminder of how deeply she’s loved in Italy and why she was chosen as a torchbearer for the 2026 Winter Olympics.
“It's crazy. It's really crazy. I really enjoy it,” she said about Italy’s rise. “Tennis is getting more popular in Italy. That's really great for our sport, for us as athletes and tennis players.
“We are many players now. We really enjoy being in this era of Italian tennis. We are like a team. Everybody is pushing each other.”
At 163cm, Paolini has built her game on speed, tenacity and a breezy, buoyant smile.
She missed Italy’s run to the 2023 United Cup final against Team USA, but led the charge in 2025 alongside rising talent Flavio Cobolli.
Cobolli closed his season 10 spots higher from where he started 2025 in the rankings, lifting his first ATP title in Bucharest and then taking down Andrey Rublev in the Hamburg ATP 500 final, before finishing the year as a Davis Cup champion.
The world No.22 reunites with Paolini in 2026, and the teammates are set to face Belinda Bencic and Stan Wawrinka’s Switzerland and the French duo of Ugo Humbert and Lois Boisson in a tough Group C in Perth.
“I’m ready to play in the United Cup again,” Cobolli said. “It means a lot because I really love to play for my country with many of my friends, and I also love to play in Australia.”
Team Italy opens its United Cup 2026 campaign at RAC Arena against Switzerland in the night session of Thursday 4 January.
