Who are Jasmine Paolini’s parents? The diminutive Italian has a mix of roots from Poland to Ghana
Jasmine Paolini is looking to become only the first Italian woman to win Wimbledon, but her roots are spread far and wide.
The 28-year-old Paolini is hoping to follow in the footsteps of compatriot Francesca Schiavone at the 2010 French Open and Flavia Pennetta at the 2015 US Open by lifting a Grand Slam title.
Paolini has enjoyed a remarkable 2024 campaign as she won the biggest title of her career at the WTA 1000 Dubai Tennis Championship with the trophy coming more than two years after her maiden title at the Slovenia Open in 2021.
And that was only the start of things to come as she climbed into the top 20 of the WTA Rankings on the back of the Dubai result and is now set for another major rankings milestone as she entered the top 10 of the rankings after reaching her maiden Grand Slam final at Roland Garros where she finished runner-up to Iga Swiatek.
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She followed it up by reaching the semi-final of Eastbourne and now the final of Wimbledon.
Her family has been present in her player’s box at the All England Club.
Who are Jasmine Paolini’s parents?
Paolini was born in the Tuscany village of Castelnuovo di Garfagnana in central Italy to Jacqueline Gardiner and Ugo Paolini on January 4, 1996.
Ugo is Italian, but Jacqueline is multicultural with Polish, Danish and Ghanaian roots. Jasmine’s maternal grandmother is Polish while her maternal grandfather is Ghanaian and lives in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Jasmine has a younger brother named William.
And yes, Jasmine does speak Polish.
“When I was young [my mother] was speaking to me in Polish. Now I can speak Polish, but I also forgot some words,” she told WTA Insider.
“For example, [Poland player] Magdalena Frech is speaking to me. And I am always like, ‘Please speak slow. Because sometimes I would like to say something in Polish and I say one word in English.’ My brain is mixed a lot.”
The Italian’s rise the past few months has been incredible, but she is more than happy to be a late bloomer as everyone has their own unique journey.
“I think every person has her own steps. I needed some more time to believe maybe that I could play at this level, how I did this week,” she said after her Dubai run.
“I know it’s not going to be like this every week. It’s tough. It’s the best players in the world, but I am her enjoying my tennis, enjoying the matches on court. I am just loving what I do, just trying to live in the present, to stay there, the make the best I could do in the moment.”
There could be double celebrations for Paolini come the end of the weekend as she is also in the women’s doubles final alongside Sara Errani. The Italians face fifth seeds Coco Gauff and Katerina Siniakova on Sunday.
Oh and did we mention if Paolini’s wins the singles final against Krejcikovathen she will become the shortest Grand Slam champion in history?
She is 163cm (5 ft 4 in) – one centimetre shorter than the great Billie Jean King and two centimetres shorter than Maureen Connolly. Even Chris Evert and Simona Halep are taller as they are 168cm while Arantxa Sanchez Vicario is 169cm.
