Paolini looks back on his surprise victory in Dubai: "It gave me enormous confidence".

Last year, Jasmine Paolini really exploded into the public eye. The Italian climbed to world No. 4 by reaching the finals of Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

During her season, she also played in the WTA Finals, thanks in particular to her title at the WTA 1000 in Dubai.

A year after winning the biggest title of her career, Paolini spoke to the WTA website about her performance last year in the United Arab Emirates.

In the process, she toppled Beatriz Haddad Maia in the first round, trailing 4-6, 2-4 and 15/40, before overcoming Anna Kalinskaya in the final, again in a close-run 3-5 defeat to the Russian in the third set.

"When I was down 15/40 at that point in the match against Haddad Maia, I thought I'd already lost the match. But it eventually turned around.

Sometimes these things just happen. You click. In the big tournaments, you can have certain difficulties and then, all of a sudden, you find the solution.

Last year, every stage I went through helped me. It helped me to get to the second week of the Grand Slams for the first time, and then to play better and better as the year progressed.

You progress and you feel deep down that you can play these big matches. In the end, it gave me an enormous amount of confidence," Paolini began.

One year on, Jasmine Paolini is back in Dubai, and she will begin the defence of her title this year in the second round with a match against Eva Lys.

"I'm trying to tell myself that this year is completely different. I have a new story to write, and I mustn't think too much about the past.

Of course, looking at previous results can help your confidence when you start the year. My biggest objective is to focus on my work, even though I know that in tennis, anything can happen.

You have to do things over and over again. Now that there are more expectations of me, it's perhaps more difficult for me," she concluded.