While Jasmine Paolini and Katie Boulter had previously split their four encounters evenly, their first meeting on clay demonstrated a clear advantage for Paolini on the red surface. The sixth seed, Paolini, required precisely one hour to secure a decisive 6-1, 6-2 victory and advance to the third round of the Mutua Madrid Open.
Paolini, who reached her first major final at Roland Garros last year, started the match aggressively. She quickly took a 2-0 lead by hitting five clean winners. Boulter, playing her first ever tour-level match win on clay after defeating Katerina Siniakova in the previous round, managed to break back after a strong rally, finishing with a backhand winner.
However, this brief moment was Boulter`s best of the match. Paolini then won the next nine games consecutively without facing a single game point. She effectively used powerful forehands and delicate drop shots, which exposed Boulter`s challenges moving on the clay court. In the second set, Paolini dropped only four points in the opening five games. Boulter struggled significantly with control throughout the match, accumulating 21 unforced errors.
Leading 5-0 in the second set, Paolini had a minor lapse, double-faulting twice, which allowed Boulter to win two games. Nevertheless, the Italian quickly regained her composure and served out the match confidently on her next service game. Paolini, who aims to improve on her previous best performance in Madrid (reaching the fourth round last year), will next play against either 29th seed Magda Linette or Maria Sakkari.
