Beaten, Paolini is a happy finalist: "Merci beaucoup Paris!"
Jasmine Paolini couldn't live up to her dream at Roland-Garros. Despite a magnificent tournament in which she put in a string of very strong performances, she finally stumbled, soundly beaten by the indomitable Iga Swiatek in the final on Saturday (6-2, 6-1).
Nevertheless, the Transalpine can leave the tournament with a smile on her face. Not only did she reach her first Grand Slam final, but she will also move up to world No. 7 on Monday.
At the prize-giving ceremony, Paolini kept smiling, thanking her team for all their hard work: "I also want to thank my team, my family, my friends and all those who are there to encourage me and believe in me every day, thank you very much!
It's been a really intense 15 days and I'm really happy and proud of myself and my team for getting this far. It was hard today, but I'm still proud of myself. And 'thank you so much, Paris! You supported me and it was incredible, and thanks to all the Italians who came to support me too. Merci beaucoup!"
Finally, the Italian was naturally keen to pay tribute to her tormentor of the day: "I really enjoyed playing on this court today and I really have to congratulate Iga. Playing against you here is the greatest challenge one can face in this sport.
Congratulations to your team too, you're doing an incredible job. You're number one in the world, several grand slams already... I don't know. Just congratulations!"
French Open 
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