Last year’s runner-up Jasmine Paolini needed to go three sets with Yuan Yue before advancing to the second round of 2025 Roland Garros and notching her seventh consecutive win.

Champions Reel: How Jasmine Paolini won Rome 2025

Coming off of a historic title on home soil in Rome, Italy’s Jasmine Paolini kept her winning streak going in the first round of Roland Garros on Sunday — although she had to survive a difficult challenge to prevail.

No. 4 seed Paolini, last year’s French Open runner-up, outlasted 87th-ranked Yuan Yue of China 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 in their opening-round encounter on Court Suzanne-Lenglen at the year’s second Grand Slam event.

“It’s great to be back here,” Paolini said on court, after her win. “Last year, playing Roland Garros and Olympics [both here], it’s a special place. I love this city, this club, this surface as well.

“Hopefully I’m gonna play a little bit better the next round, and we’ll see.”

Clay streak continues: Back at her career-high ranking of World No. 4, Paolini has now picked up seven match-wins in a row, equaling her career-best winning streak at tour-level.

Just over a week ago, she became the first Italian woman in 40 years to win the Internazionali BNL d’Italia singles title.

Paolini continues to be a force on slow red clay of late, having made her first Grand Slam final at Roland Garros last year.

She was the first Italian woman to make a Slam final since Flavia Pennetta won the 2015 US Open — and Paolini backed it up a few weeks later by making her second Grand Slam final on the grass of Wimbledon.

Match moments: On Sunday, former Top 40 player Yuan aimed to turn around an 0-3 career record against Top 5 players and reach the second round of a Slam for only the second time in 10 Slam main draws.

Paolini dominated the 24-minute first set, but the Chinese player found her form after that, strengthening her footwork and ramping up her aggression to garner an early break in the second set and eventually tie up the match.

Yuan continued to crack crosscourt winners behind Paolini and led by a break at 3-2 in the third set.

However, Paolini refused to yield and cranked a return winner to pull back level at 3-3.

That unlocked the Italian’s best form and she did not lose another point in the encounter, reeling off 14 points in a row to fend off Yuan’s challenge and clinch her spot in the second round.

“I won quite easily the first set, then [Yuan] started to play better,” Paolini said. “Me a little bit so-and-so, a little bit of emotions and nerves came out. …

I’m happy I fight until the end. It was tough, 3-2 down and a break, but I did it.”

An Aussie awaits: Paolini will have to wait until tomorrow to find out who her second-round opponent will be.

Australians Maya Joint and Ajla Tomljanovic are scheduled to meet for the second time in four days, with the winner to take on Paolini.

It will be Paolini’s first meeting against either of those Aussies.

The 19-year-old Joint just won her first WTA singles title at WTA 250 Rabat on Saturday and shot up to a career-high No. 53 in the updated PIF WTA Rankings.

Joint advanced past Tomljanovic in the Rabat semifinals — although they completed only one set before Tomljanovic withdrew due to an abdominal strain.

WTA Staff