Preview: Jasmine Paolini vs. Dayana Yastremska - French Open prediction, form, head-to-head

For the first time in years, Jasmine Paolini and Dayana Yastremska will face each other on the singles tour, with the two ladies squaring off in the opening round of the French Open on Monday.

Paolini is coming off a round of 32 defeat at the Italian Open versus Elise Mertens 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 3-6, while her upcoming Ukrainian opponent captured the WTA Parma in Italy last weekend over Barbora Krejcikova 6-3 6-3.

Match preview

Months into 2026, Paolini seems to still be trying to find her form, failing to make a deep run in numerous events on the WTA tour.

The Italian has gone out in the round of 32 of her previous four tournaments, four of which were on clay.

That said, she has made it beyond the opening round in nine straight Grand Slam events, getting to round four of the previous French Open.

A finalist at this event two years ago, Paolini has only gone out at this stage of the tournament once this decade, when Irinia-Camelia Begu beat her 4-6 6-1 7-6 (10-5) in 2022.

So far in 2026, she has converted 44.4% of her break points while winning 44.3% of her return points across all surfaces for the year.

Meanwhile, she has won 64.2% of her service games this year while saving 58% of her break points thus far.

Entering this event, Dayana Yastremska should be feeling a lot better about her game after capturing her first singles event of 2026.

Prior to her victory at the Parma Ladies Open, she had lost her opening match in each of her previous two singles events, both of which were on clay.

Yastremska has exited in the opening round of her last two Grand Slam tournaments, losing to Elena-Gabriela Ruse in straight sets at the Australian Open earlier this year.

After being knocked out in the first round of her first four French Open tournaments, she has made it beyond that stage on two successive occasions.

While she is coming into this event on a high note, Yastremska has often been her own worst enemy, committing 123 double faults this year.

She has been best on her first serves, winning 60.3% of those, while also winning 61.2% of her service games overall in 2026.

Head To Head

Slovenia Open (2021) - Round of 32: Paolini wins 7-6 4-1 walkover

Courmayer Open (2021) - Quarter-finals: Paolini wins 6-4 7-6

Linz Open (2021) - Round of 32: Paolini wins 6-4 3-6 6-2

Lyon Open (2022) - Quarter-finals: Yastremska wins 6-4 7-6

Wnners Open (2022) - Round of 32: Paolini wins 6-4 6-1

Florence Open (2023) - Round of 16: Paolini wins 7-5 4-6 6-3

Palmera Open (2023) - Round of 16: Paolini wins 2-6 6-4 6-2

Before having to forfeit the first match between them in Slovenia, Yastremska registered seven double faults, while Paolini converted seven break-point opportunities.

Later that year at the Courmayeur Open, the Italian was the only one to convert a break point, which propelled her to victory in a relatively even match statistically speaking.

When they faced off the following year in Yastremska’s current residence of Lyon, the Ukrainian won 58% of her second serves and converted five break points to win for the first and only time in this head-to-head series.

Their final meeting of 2022 saw Paolini capture 81% of her first serves while failing to register a single double fault.

We say: Paolini to win in three sets

This could be a tough test for Paolini, who does not boast huge power in the service department, but we believe her stamina and experience will ultimately prevail.