By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday December 11, 2024
2024 was a banner year for Italian tennis – again. And on the women’s side no Italian’s star shone brighter than Jasmine Paolini, who broke out in a big way, reaching two major finals and rising to a career-high ranking of No.4 in the WTA rankings.
Paolini, who also won a gold medal at the Paris Olympics in women’s doubles alongside Sara Errani, finished last year at No.30 in the rankings, but stormed onto the scene this year, making her Top 20, Top 10 and Top 5 debuts.
Thanks to Paolini’s grand success her coach, Renzo Furlan, has been named the WTA’s coach of the year for 2024.
The award was voted on by WTA coaches. Initiated in 2018, the award had never been won by an Italian before. Previous winners were:
2018: Sascha Bajin (Naomi Osaka)
2019: Craig Tyzzer (Ash Barty)
2020: Piotr Sierzutowski (Iga Swiatek)
2021: Conchita Martinez (Garbine Muguruza)
2022: David Witt (Jessica Pegula)
2023: Tomasz Wiktorowski (Iga Swiatek)
Furlan, a former World No.19. He first worked with Paolini in 2015, but became her full-time coach in 2020.
