At Wimbledon last year, Jasmine Paolini fought an inspired path through to the ladies’ singles final following three consecutive first round defeats at The Championships. Twelve months on and it was another early exit as the world No.5 was beaten in three sets by Kamilla Rakhimova, ranked 75 places below her.

“The seeds are falling like flies right now”, presenter Jenny Drummond observed on No.3 Court following Rakhimova’s remarkable comeback from a set down, with the 23-year-old’s win marking the 16th seeded player to fall in the ladies’ singles. 

In her usual ebullient style, the 29-year-old Paolini bounced on to court as heavy favourite by ranking, having also made the semi-finals in Bad Homburg in the grass court lead-in.

The Italian commanded a mighty presence, boosted by a crowd swelled by vocal Italians added to fans won over by her run to the final last year.

The atmosphere was light, with laughter echoing through the crowd when Rakhimova accidentally hit her opponent with the ball. “It’s okay! It was my fault!’, Paolini replied.

But there was business to be done. In the first set, Paolini made full use of the court, overpowering her nervous opponent who responded with six double faults.

Building on a quarter-final showing at Eastbourne in the lead-in, Rakhimova was not to be deterred. That double fault tally fell to three in the second set as she shook off the nerves and kept her serve under control.

At the same time Paolini’s focus seemed to fluctuate and the errors began to creep in.

Rakhimova went a break up early in the deciding set and held on, sealing victory with an emphatic forehand winner to take only her second ever singles match win at the All England Club following a first round defeat in 2023.

It marks a first top 10 win in eight attempts, and equals her best Grand Slam showing following a third round appearance at Roland-Garros two years ago.

Rakhimova graciously called for “big applause for Jasmine” as she spoke to the crowd on court after the match, acknowledging the challenge the Italian presented.

She also explained what she felt was a sub-par serving performance in the opening set. “Playing on a big court in the beginning can be tough, I get a little bit tight, I lose my serve,” she said, drawing big cheers from crowd.

“I just pretend I’m playing a normal girl, not No.4 in the world, and it worked out,” Rahkimova continued.

Work out it did. She now faces No.30 seed Linda Noskova in an intriguingly open section of the draw; No.13 seed Amanda Anisimova is the highest ranked threat in her quarter.