The global tennis community is shocked when a contract between Jasmine Paolini and a third party is said to be “secret” and suddenly leaked, with the content surprising many: Paolini was paid a large sum of money to deliberately lose to Aryna Sabalenka in the Stuttgart semi-final of the last expansion.
According to unnamed sources revealed on a prestigious sports forum, this contract includes an agreement that Paolini will play “with a lack of determination” and will not use 100% of her abilities in the semifinals. It’s worth noting that after this information surfaced, the netizen quickly compared her game and discovered a number of Paolini’s situations that were somehow “unbelievable,” especially in the second set when she constantly made double errors and inaccurate shots, even though she wasn’t under pressure from Sabalenka.
Although neither Jasmine Paolini nor the representative of the Stuttgart tournament expansion team issued an official statement, the leaked information sparked a wave of controversy among fans. Many believe the WTA (World Women’s Tennis Association) needs an independent investigation to clarify the incident and protect the fairness of the sport.
On the other hand, some suggested this could just be a “conspiracy theory” for Paolini’s reputation, as he’s having an impressive season and pulling off an upset against many stronger players.
Fair or foul, this accident will undoubtedly remain controversial for a long time, especially as the belief in the purity of top sports is increasingly challenged by this type of information. Fans are only awaiting an official response from the story’s main character, Jasmine Paolini, as well as from the tournament organizers and relevant management agencies.
