Renzo Furlan, coach of Jasmine Paolini, was named WTA Coach of the Year for 2024

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 star shone more than Jasmine Paoliniwho broke out in a big way, reaching two major finals and climbing to a career-high ranking of fourth in the WTA rankings.

Paolini, who also won a gold medal at the Paris Olympics in the women’s doubles alongside Sara Errani, finished last year ranked 30th but burst onto the scene this year, making her debut her Top 20, Top 10 and Top 5.

Thanks to Paolini’s great success, her coach, Renzo Furlan, has been named WTA Coach of the Year for 2024.

The award was voted on by the WTA coaches. Launched in 2018, the award had never been won by an Italian before. Previous winners were:

2018: Sascha Dies (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.