Jasmine Paolini reached the third round of the US Open on Wednesday with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Lucrezia Stefanini. At the end of the match, Ubitennis spoke with Marc Lopez, who has just returned to the Italian player’s coaching staff.

UBITENNIS: We’ve just seen the end of Jasmine’s match, in which she beat Lucrezia Stefanini. How is Jasmine doing? Is she getting better and better?

MARC LOPEZ: This is the first tournament Jasmine has played since Wimbledon. The first round was a bit of a strange and tough match, because it’s difficult when you haven’t played for a long time. Today, however, she played brilliantly. Lucrezia is an incredible player. The first set was very tough, but in the end Jasmine played a bit better, as she usually does, hitting lots of winners. It really was a great match.

UBITENNIS: Jasmine said she’s very happy to have started working with you again and hopes there’ll be better communication now. Is it nice to pick up where you left off?

MARC LOPEZ: Yes, for me too. I’m very happy to be working with her again. Last year we worked together for three months and it went well; then something happened. The important thing, though, is that after a year we’ve found ourselves working together again. Communication with her is important and, for the moment, everything’s going well. Let’s hope the tournament goes well and that we can climb the rankings in the future.

UBITENNIS: One last thing: two Olympic gold medallists, Marc Lopez and Jasmine Paolini – it’s not bad working together. From a technical point of view, what’s it like working with a player who’s already so well-rounded? Is there still anything that can be added in these final years of Jasmine’s career?

MARC LOPEZ: You can always work on things and improve, even when I was on Rafa’s team. Jasmine, at 30, is already an incredible player who hits the ball extraordinarily well. Sometimes, however, she needs to understand better how to minimise errors and choose when to go for the winner and when, instead, to wait a little before doing so. We need to work on that. She’s a player who hits loads of winners; sometimes, when her confidence isn’t at its best, she makes a few more errors. When she plays as she did in the second set, though, she’s an incredible player and, in my view, a top player.

Editor’s Note: The interview was first published in Italian on Ubitennis.com and has been translated into English.