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Rafael Nadal's former coach and former Olympic champion Marc Lopez has been appointed as Jasmine Paolini's new coach. The Italian, a two-time Grand Slam finalist, recently ended her 10-year coaching collaboration with Renzo Furlan.
Lopez had been a decorated doubles player with 14 doubles titles on the ATP Tour. Five of those titles came when he partnered with Nadal. The Spanish duo had their biggest success when they clinched Olympic gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics, triumphing over the Romanian team of Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau. Lopez later joined the 22-time Major champion's coaching team in 2021.
Paolini, meanwhile, had a breakthrough season on the Tour in 2024, reaching the finals of the French Open and Wimbledon, losing both. The Italian made her debut in the top five on the WTA rankings. Her most significant win was the WTA 1000 title at the Dubai Tennis Championships.
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A tennis insider reported Lopez and Paolini's partnership by quoting former World No. 1 Dinara Safina. Safina, who herself has made her coaching debut with Diana Shnaider, revealed that Lopez would be partnering Paolini for the clay season for a trial period.
"I spoke with Marc in Stuttgart. This cooperation is designed until the end of Roland Garros." Safina said via Sofya Tartakova's X account.
Paolini is all set to begin her clay season at the 2025 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, where the Italian is the fifth seed.
Rafael Nadal was Jasmine Paolini's first choice for being her coach for a week
Jasmine Paolini recently appeared on the "Tennis Insider Club" show co-hosted by WTA player Caroline Garcia. Elena Rybakina and Maria Sakkari accompanied the Italian. During the candid interview, the guests were asked to name their choice of coach who would collaborate with them for a week. Paolini had no hesitation in naming Nadal as her choice for a coach.
Like Nadal, the Italian went on an insane run at Roland Garros last year, beating the likes of Bianca Andreescu, Elena Rybakina, and Mirra Andreeva to reach the final, where she lost to Iga Swiatek. Paolini followed this performance with another stellar show at Wimbledon, reaching the final again. The Italian, who had never won a singles match at the event before, defeated the likes of Madison Keys, Emma Navarro, and Donna Vekic to reach the final, where she fell short against Barbora Krejcikova.
Paolini started this year slowly, failing to defend her title in Dubai, as she had to retire because of injury. However, the Italian came back to form just before the clay season, reaching the semifinals of the Miami Open, where she lost against Aryna Sabalenka.
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