Juniors In January 2013, Paolini won her only junior title at the J4 Wilson ITF Junior Classic in
Bergheim. She made her Junior Grand Slam debut after qualifying for the
US Open later that year. She reached the third round in
singles, before losing to eventual finalist
Tornado Alicia Black. She also reached the third round of the
Australian Open in January 2014.
2015–17: WTA Tour debut, first 100k title |201x201px In May 2015, Paolini received a wildcard into the main draw of the doubles tournament at the
Italian Open with
Nastassja Burnett. The pair lost in the first round to
Alla Kudryavtseva and
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. In June 2017, Paolini won her first 100k title at
Marseille where she defeated
Taylor Townsend,
Sara Cakarevic,
Anhelina Kalinina,
Dalma Gálfi, and top seed
Tatjana Maria. She made her WTA Tour singles debut in the following month at the
Swedish Open but lost in the first round to fifth seed
Carla Suárez Navarro. She also entered the
Guangzhou International Open and lost in the first round to third seed
Anett Kontaveit.
2018–20: WTA Tour wins, top 100 After failing to qualify for the
2018 Australian Open, Paolini represented Italy in the
Fed Cup against Spain in the
World Group II and against Belgium in the
World Group play-offs. In April 2018, she recorded her first WTA Tour win at the
Copa Colsanitas against qualifier
Lizette Cabrera. The following month, as a lucky loser at the
Prague Open, she upset third seed
Daria Kasatkina and defeated
Anna Karolína Schmiedlová to reach her first WTA quarterfinal. In May 2019, Paolini made her WTA 1000 singles debut as a wildcard entrant at the
Italian Open, but lost in the first round to
Sofia Kenin. Later that month, she qualified for her first Grand Slam tournament at the
French Open by defeating
Anna Zaja,
Rebecca Šramková, and
Allie Kiick in the qualifiers without dropping a set. She then reached the quarterfinals of the
Palermo Ladies Open, defeating
Laura Siegemund and
Irina-Camelia Begu before losing to top seed
Kiki Bertens. She also qualified for the main draw in
Guangzhou and reached the quarterfinals. After reaching the final of the
Tokyo Open in November 2019, Paolini reached a new career-high of world No. 96. She was the first Italian to reach the top 100 since
Camila Giorgi in 2012. In 2020, the Italian entered directly into the main draws of the
Australian Open and the
US Open, but failed to advance past the first round of either. She recorded her first WTA 1000 level win at the
Italian Open by defeating
Anastasija Sevastova in the first round. At the
French Open, which was postponed to September due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, Paolini recorded her first major win by defeating
Aliona Bolsova in the first round. She also recorded her first doubles win at a major, partnering
Varvara Gracheva and defeating
Lyudmyla and
Nadiia Kichenok in the first round.
2021: Tour singles & doubles titles At the
Gippsland Trophy in February 2021, Paolini reached her first WTA 500 third round, defeating
Rebecca Marino and tenth seed
Wang Qiang, before losing to eighth seed
Karolína Muchová. She reached her first WTA 125 final at
Saint-Malo by defeating
Elsa Jacquemot,
Nina Stojanović, Anna Karolína Schmiedlová, and Varvara Gracheva, before ultimately losing to
Viktorija Golubic. She reached her second consecutive second round at the
French Open with a win over
Stefanie Vögele. In June, the Italian won her first WTA 125 title seeded third at the
Bol Open, defeating
Viktória Hrunčáková,
Olga Govortsova,
Kristína Kučová, top seed
Anna Blinkova, and second seed
Arantxa Rus. The following month, she won her first WTA Tour doubles title at the
Hamburg European Open, partnering
Jil Teichmann. At the
Summer Olympics, Paolini represented Italy in both
singles and
doubles. In singles, she lost in the first round to tenth seed
Petra Kvitová. In doubles, she and partner
Sara Errani, who had entered as alternates, reached the second round by upsetting the eighth-seeded team of
Nicole Melichar and
Alison Riske. In September, she won her first career title at the
Slovenia Open in Portorož, defeating sixth seed
Dayana Yastremska, Anna Kalinskaya, fourth seed
Sorana Cîrstea, second seed
Yulia Putintseva, and third seed Alison Riske. The following month, Paolini reached her first WTA 1000 third round, after qualifying for the
Indian Wells Open and defeating
Mai Hontama and 14th seed
Elise Mertens. She ended the season by reaching the semifinals of the
Courmayeur Ladies Open and the quarterfinals of the
Linz Open.
2022: Top 50, first top-10 win At the
Melbourne Summer Set 1, Paolini and partner Sara Errani reached the doubles final, but lost to the second-seeded team of
Asia Muhammad and
Jessica Pegula. Following the
Australian Open, the Italian entered the WTA top 50 for the first time. She reached back-to-back third rounds at the
Indian Wells Open, upsetting second seed
Aryna Sabalenka in the second round for her first top 10 win. Paolini reached back-to-back WTA 250 quarterfinals in
Palermo and
Warsaw. Attempting to defend her title in
Portorož, she defeated
Tara Würth and
Kaja Juvan, before losing to eventual champion
Kateřina Siniaková in the quarterfinals. She reached her second WTA final at the
Transylvania Open, defeating sixth seed
Marta Kostyuk, Dayana Yastremska,
Jule Niemeier, and seventh seed
Wang Xiyu, She ended her season by winning the 100k
Torneig Internacional Els Gorchs.
2023: Italian No. 1, BJK Cup final Paolini's 2023 season started out slow, with first-round exits at the
Australian Open,
Dubai,
Indian Wells,
Miami, and
Madrid. She won her second WTA 125 title in May, seeded fourth at the
Firenze Ladies Open, and reached the final of the
Makarska International Championships the following month. In July, she reached the final at the
Palermo Ladies Open as the fourth seed, defeating
Arantxa Rus, Dayana Yastremska, top seed Daria Kasatkina, and
Sara Sorribes Tormo, before losing to second seed Zheng Qinwen. Paolini qualified for the
Cincinnati Open, where she reached the quarterfinals with wins over Marta Kostyuk and
Cristina Bucșa, and an early retirement by
Elena Rybakina. The following month, she reached the first WTA 1000 doubles semifinal of her career, partnering
Mayar Sherif, in
Guadalajara. At the
China Open, Paolini reached the third round in singles with wins over
Beatriz Haddad Maia and
Yuan Yue. Following this result, she reached a new career-high ranking of No. 31 on 9 October and surpassed
Elisabetta Cocciaretto as the No. 1 Italian female tennis player. At the
Zhengzhou Open, she reached the semifinals defeating
Moyuka Uchijima, world No. 10
Caroline Garcia, and Laura Siegemund, before losing to eventual champion
Zheng Qinwen. The following week, she reached the final of the
Jasmin Open in both singles and doubles. As the top seed in singles, she defeated
Alizé Cornet,
Petra Marčinko, sixth seed
Lucia Bronzetti, and fourth seed
Lesia Tsurenko, before losing to second seed and defending champion Elise Mertens. In
doubles, she and partner Sara Errani won the title after saving a match point in the semifinals. In the
Billie Jean King Cup Finals in November, Paolini and
Team Italy defeated teams from
France,
Germany, and
Slovenia, before losing to
Team Canada in the final.
2024: Two major finals, Olympic gold At the
Australian Open, Paolini reached the fourth round of a major for the first time with wins over
Diana Shnaider, Tatjana Maria, and Anna Blinkova, before being beaten by fellow first-time fourth rounder
Anna Kalinskaya. Despite the loss, she reached a new career-high ranking of 24. Playing with Sara Errani, she won the doubles title at the
Linz Open in February, defeating top seeds
Nicole Melichar-Martinez and
Ellen Perez in the final. At the
Dubai Championships, Paolini reached her second quarterfinal at WTA 1000 level, defeating 11th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia,
Leylah Fernandez and eighth seed
Maria Sakkari. She reached her first final at this level, following a win over Sorana Cîrstea in the semifinals. In the final, she defeated qualifier Anna Kalinskaya to win her first WTA 1000 title, avenging her Australian Open loss earlier in the season. As a result, she moved into the top 15 of the rankings on 26 February 2024. At the
Indian Wells Open, Paolini reached the fourth round, defeating Tatjana Maria and 21st seed Anna Kalinskaya again, before losing to 28th seed
Anastasia Potapova. She reached a new career-high ranking of No. 13 after a quarterfinal appearance at the
Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart, where she defeated compatriot Sara Errani and seventh seed
Ons Jabeur, before losing to eventual champion Elena Rybakina. Following a fourth-round run in
Madrid, she rose further to a career-high of No. 12. final at the
2024 Summer Olympics Partnering with Sara Errani, Paolini reached the doubles final at the
Italian Open and defeated the third-seeded team of
Coco Gauff and
Erin Routliffe to win her first WTA 1000 doubles title. As a result, she reached the top 25 in doubles on 20 May 2024. Seeded 12th at the
French Open, Paolini reached a major quarterfinal for the first time with wins over
Daria Saville, lucky loser
Hailey Baptiste, 2019 US Open champion
Bianca Andreescu, and
Elina Avanesyan. She then upset fourth seed Elena Rybakina for her first top-five win at a major. In the semifinals, she defeated
Mirra Andreeva to reach her first major final, which she lost to world No. 1, Iga Świątek. With Errani, she also reached the
doubles final, but the pair lost to the fifth-seeded team of Coco Gauff and Kateřina Siniaková. Having never won a match at the tournament, Paolini, seeded seventh, reached the final at
Wimbledon, recording wins over Sara Sorribes Tormo,
Greet Minnen, Bianca Andreescu,
Madison Keys,
Emma Navarro, and
Donna Vekić. She became the first Italian woman to reach the Wimbledon semifinals in the
Open Era, and the first woman to reach both the French Open and Wimbledon finals in the same season since
Serena Williams in
2016. Paolini ultimately lost in the final to 31st seed Barbora Krejčíková in three sets. Following her run, she reached a new career-high ranking of world No. 5, on 15 July 2024. Seeded fourth in singles at the
2024 Summer Olympics, Paolini was upset in the third round by world No. 67, Anna Karolína Schmiedlová. Seeded third in doubles, she and Errani won the gold medal, defeating Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider in the final. In October, Paolini and Errani won the doubles title at the
China Open, defeating
Chan Hao-ching and
Veronika Kudermetova in the final and becoming the first Italian doubles champions at the tournament. Following the title win, Paolini reached the top 10 in doubles at world No. 9 on 7 October 2024, becoming the only active player at the time, male or female, to be ranked in the top 10 in both singles and doubles. In singles, at the same tournament, Paolini reached the third round, where she lost to 31st seed
Magda Linette. At the next WTA 1000, the
Wuhan Open, on her debut, she reached the singles quarterfinals with wins over
Yuan Yue and lucky loser
Erika Andreeva. Paolini lost to fifth seed and eventual runner-up Zheng Qinwen. As a result, she reached a new career-high ranking of world No. 4 tying the record for the highest-ranked Italian singles female player with
Francesca Schiavone on 28 October 2024. She lost her second match to
Aryna Sabalenka. The Italian was defeated by eventual runner-up Zheng Qinwen in her final round-robin match and subsequently did not progress to the semifinals. Partnering with Sara Errani, she also exited the
doubles in the round-robin stage after compiling a record of one win and two losses. At the
Billie Jean King Cup finals in Spain, Paolini defeated
Moyuka Uchijima and then teamed with Sara Errani to overcome
Shuko Aoyama and
Eri Hozumi as Italy won their quarterfinal tie against Japan. Italy faced Poland in the semifinals and, after losing her singles match to Iga Świątek, Paolini combined again with Sara Errani to defeat
Katarzyna Kawa and Świątek in the decisive doubles and secure a place in the final. She then defeated
Rebecca Šramková to claim the winning points as Italy overcame Slovakia in the final to take the title. In December, Paolini and Errani were named
WTA Doubles Team of the Year.
2025: Rome singles and Roland Garros doubles titles Seeded fourth at the
Australian Open, Paolini defeated qualifier
Wei Sijia and
Renata Zarazúa to reach the third round, where she lost to 28th seed
Elina Svitolina in three sets. Paolini and Errani won their third WTA 1000 doubles title together at
Doha, defeating
Jiang Xinyu and
Wu Fang-hsien in the final. The following week, her defense of her
Dubai Championship title ended in the third round with a loss to
Sofia Kenin during which she suffered an ankle injury that forced her to withdraw from the doubles competition at the tournament. At the
Miami Open in March, wins over Rebecca Šramková, Ons Jabeur,
Naomi Osaka and Magda Linette saw Paolini reach the semifinals, where she lost to world No. 1, Aryna Sabalenka. In April, the Italian defeated wildcard entrants
Eva Lys and
Jule Niemeier Paolini won also the doubles title, defeating Elise Mertens and Veronika Kudermetova in the final, defending the title won the previous year. She became the first Italian woman to win both the singles and doubles titles at the tournament in the same year since Raffaella Reggi in
1985, and the first woman to win both the singles and doubles titles at the tournament in the same year since
Monica Seles in
1990. At the
French Open with her partner Sara Errani, Paolini lifted her first major tournament doubles trophy defeating
Anna Danilina and
Aleksandra Krunić in the final. In singles, also at the French Open, she reached the fourth round and was defeated by Elina Svitolina for the second successive major tournament. Moving onto the grass-court season, Paolini and Errani were runners-up at the
Berlin Open, losing
Tereza Mihalikova and
Olivia Nicholls. The following week, she reached the semifinals at the
Bad Homburg Open, at which point she lost to Iga Świątek. The Italian defeated
Anastasija Sevastova in the first round at
Wimbledon, before losing her next match to
Kamilla Rakhimova. After her loss, Paolini fired her coach Marc López. In July, she announced Italian player
Federico Gaio as her interim coach until the US Open. Paolini then reached the final of the
Cincinnati Open in August, where she was defeated in straight sets by Iga Świątek. At the
2025 US Open, Paolini lost to Markéta Vondroušová in the
singles third round, while she and Errani made it through to the
doubles semifinals, losing to eventual champions Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe. In September, Paolini was part of the Italy team which retained the
BJK Cup, winning all four matches she was involved in, including overcoming Jessica Pegula in the final against the United States. Alongside Sara Errani, she defended their doubles title at the
China Open, defeating
Miyu Kato and
Fanny Stollár in the final to claim their third WTA 1000 trophy of the year. Paolini followed this up by reaching back-to-back singles semifinals at the
Wuhan Open, where she lost to Coco Gauff, and at
Ningbo Open, losing to Elena Rybakina. For the second successive year, Paolini qualified for the
singles and, with Sara Errani, the
doubles at the
WTA Finals in Riyadh, but was eliminated in the group stages of both.
2026: Out of top 10 As top seed at the
Mérida Open, Paolini received a bye and then recorded wins over lucky loser
Priscilla Hon and wildcard entrant
Katie Boulter to make it into the semifinals, at which point she lost to eventual champion Cristina Bucșa In March at the
Miami Open, she and Sara Errani were runners-up in the doubles, losing in the final to Kateřina Siniaková and Taylor Townsend. Defending her title at the
Italian Open in May, Paolini lost to 21st seed Elise Mertens in the third round and as a consequence saw her 101 week run in the world's top 10 come to an end. ==Playing style==