With Zheng and Paolini, we get one of each—a prodigy and a late bloomer. We also get two personalities that are as varied as their ages.
At 21, Zheng made good on the sky’s-the-limit promise she showed in 2022 and 2023. She won gold Olympic gold, made her first Slam final in Melbourne, cracked the Top 10, and consolidated her improvements with a successful Asian swing, in front of sold-out crowds. She did it all with the forward-marching, all-business, self-confidence of a player with much bigger plans for the future.
At 28, Paolini made good on a potential that few saw in her during her first 10 years on tour. At the start of 2024, the 5-foot-4 Italian was ranked 30th, and had never made it past the second round at a Slam in 27 tries. Then she reached the finals of two in a row, on two different surfaces, at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Just as important, Paolini’s small stature, explosive speed and swing, and easy smile made her an instant crowd favorite.
While Zheng will surely stay at the top for longer, here’s hoping Paolini is just getting started, too.
