French Open star bursts into tears and forced to halt press conference | Tennis | Sport

A visibly emotional Jasmine Paolini was forced to momentarily pause her press conference after suffering defeat in the French Open. Paolini was facing Solana Sierra in the second-round match at Roland Garros on Wednesday, but lost in three sets to exit the tournament.

The 30-year-old has previously reached the final of the French Open on one occasion back in 2024, but saw her time on the court in Paris this year come to an early end. Paolini won the first set 6-3 and looked in control of the match on Court Suzanne Lenglen, with a place in the third round up for grabs. However, Sierra responded by winning the next set 6-4 and claimed the third and decisive set 6-3 to reach the next round, where she will face No.18 seed Sorana Cirstea on Friday.

Paolini spoke to reporters after the defeat to Sierra and was talking about a foot issue that had been bothering her, before she burst into tears.

The Italian then briefly left the press conference desk in tears before returning a few seconds later with tissues in her hand, as she then went on to answer more questions.

Speaking in English, Paolini said: “It was a tough one. I know I could play better, I could do things better, but it didn’t work today. She [Sierra] played good, and I have to accept it.”

Paolini then added, while speaking in Italian: “I’ve been struggling with this foot since Rome. I’m definitely not 100% and my foot is bothering me a bit, otherwise I wouldn’t have made the decisions I did, even for doubles.

“I did my best, that’s for sure, but it’s hard to accept. It hurts, and I definitely could have played better, regardless of my foot, but it’s not easy to play well like this when you also have a physical problem.”

She continued: “It’s [rest] the best option right now, and I have to take my time, and unfortunately, there wasn’t any time.

“I took as much time as possible to be at least a little competitive here. Obviously, I didn’t do 10 days of intense training, because otherwise it would have been difficult to even recover a little.”

“It’s difficult to be positive right now, but I have to try to be,” Paolini concluded.