By Richard Pagliaro | @TennisNow | Thursday, July 11, 2024
Jasmine Paolini out-dueled Donna Vekic 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(8) in the longest Wimbledon women's semifinal to reach her second straight Slam final.
Photo credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty
Wimbledon—Centre Court walls were closing in on Jasmine Paolini.
Pouring passion into every point, Paolini blew the roof off the most prestigious court in the sport prevailing in a match for the ages.
French Open finalist Paolini battled back from a break down in the final set out-dueling unseeded Donna Vekic 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(8) in a wildly exhilarating and epic semifinal to surge into her second straight Grand Slam final at Wimbledon.
Amid excruciating tension, Paolini prevailed in an extraordinary two hour, 51-minute match—the longest Wimbledon ladies’ semifinal in Open Era history—to hit her way into history.
"I'm feeling amazing," Paolini said. "Today has been a really, really tough match. So emotional match. I'm just feeling so great."
It’s a massive moment for Paolini, the first Italian woman in the Open Era to reach the Wimbledon final—and the first Italian in Open Era history to advance to Grand Slam finals at two different majors.
The perpetually-positive Paolini is the first woman to reach the Roland Garros final and Wimbledon final in the same year since Serena Williams in 2016.
"She was hitting winners from everywhere... I'm so happy with this win, this match I will remember forever, I think," Paolini told Rishi Persad in her on-court interview. "I was just trying to think what to do on the court. Point-by-point I was just repeating to myself try. Point-by-point it was really difficult, you know, but there is no place better than here to fight for every point, every ball.
"I really enjoy to play in front of you guys. For a tennis player, it is the best place to play a match like this. Thank you for cheering for me."
The seventh-seeded Paolini will play 2021 French Open singles and doubles champion Barbora Krejcikova in Saturday's Wimbledon final, ensuring a new Wimbledon ladies' champion will raise the Rosewater Dish for the eighth consecutive year.
The 31st-seeded Krejcikova dropped four games in a row to open then found her game toppling 2022 Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, marking the first time in 20 years both ladies' semifinals spanned three sets.
"I think [the final will be] a big fight, definitely a big fight," Krejcikova said. "I know she is a huge fighter, she showed it today and same from me.
"I think we are both playing great tennis and I think it’s going to be a great match on Saturday."
This remarkable run from Paolini is even more profound considering the 5’4” dynamo was winless on grass her entire career prior to this 2024 season.
"I love playing tennis," Paolini said. "It's amazing to be here playing in this stadium. It's a dream. I was watching finals on television when I was a kid."
Talk about hitting high notes.
Dubai champion Paolini, who began the 2023 season ranked No. 62, had never surpassed a Grand Slam second round until she reached the Australian Open fourth round in January.
Now, the inspired Italian stands one win from raising the Rosewater Dish.
Spare a thought—and some compassion—for Donna Vekic, who showed pure guts saving two match points, shed tears on court in an outpouring of emotion and arm pain amid a pro-Paolini crowd to push this dizzying drama into a decisive tiebreaker.
Playing her fourth consecutive three-set match, including her fifth in six matches during this fortnight, Vekic commanded the first set and matched the French Open finalist stroke for stroke until Paolini pulled out the final three points completing a captivating comeback.
“It was tough, tough match,” a distraught Vekic said afterward. “I believe that I could win until the end. She played some amazing tennis and congrats to her—she definitely deserves it.
“I mean I thought I was gonna die in the third set. I had so much pain in my arm, in my leg so it was not easy out there but I will recover.”
Playing to join 2023 champion Marketa Vondrousova as the second unseeded player in the Open Era to reach the Wimbledon ladies’ final, Vekic blasted a 111 mph serve winner down the T to save the first match point at 4-5.
Two games later, Vekic went toe-to-toe with Paolini in a crackling baseline exchange that spanned 17 shots and saw both women clean lines with drives before Vekic bravely banged a forehand winner down the line to save the second match point, eventually forcing the tiebreaker.
World No. 37 Vekic came achingly close to making history of her own as the first Croatian woman to reach the Wimbledon final and second Croatian woman—after 1997 Roland Garros champion Iva Majoli, who denied Martina Hingis the calendar Grand Slam—to advance to a Grand Slam final.
How close was Vekic?
On this day, Vekic hit 16 more winners (42 to 36), earned twice as many break points (14 to 7), won seven more points in the match (118 to 111), hit her average first serve about 13 miles an hour faster, and smacked successive winners to take an 8-7 lead in the breaker—two points from the biggest win of her life.
None of that mattered much to Paolini, who dug in with defiance and refused to lose.
Exuding energy on each point, Paolini lifted her level when it mattered most today.
An amazing aspect of Paolini’s performance throughout this break-out season is her resilience, sheer stamina facing bigger, stronger opponents and willingness to take—and often make—the first strike off her forehand.
That wasn't the way it all began.
Hitting her forehand heavier in the opening set, Vekic frequently forced Paolini to play off her back foot.
The 2017 Nottingham champion Vekic broke twice in the opening set—for 3-2 and then 5-2—before serving out a strong 36-minute opener at love.
In the second set, Paolini saved break points in two of her first three service games then steadied herself holding for 5-4.
Serving to extend the set, Vekic double-faulted into a love-30 hole and was frozen by a jolting Paolini return down the line that gave the Italian two set points. Paolini pumped a forehand winner to snatch the second set and force a decider after one hour, 28 minutes.
That set the stage for a final set that lasted longer then the previous two sets combined.
A determined Vekic broke to open the decider. When Vekic slammed down a love hold, she edged ahead 3-1.
Some Centre Court fans were chanting a chorus of “Jasmine Paolin! Jasmine Paolini!” trying to rouse the Italian.
Fan favorite Paolini heard the roars and responded jamming Vekic with a deep return down the middle that helped her break back to level after six games.
Resetting, Vekic crushed a return off a 66 mph second serve to break right back for 4-3. The 28-year-old Croatian was two holds from the final, but the fatigue from all those long battles–Vekic spent two hours longer on court than Paolini—started to sap the strength from her legs and her right arm.
At one point, Vekic plopped down on the linesperson’s chair to catch her breath. Vekic gave the break back on scattering a double fault and error as Paolini broke back for 4-all again inciting extended enlivened crowd support.
Serving at 5-all, Paolini saved two more break points in a four-deuce game that both women attacked like warriors. Had Vekic brok there, she would have served for the final.
Paolini persevered through a tense four-deuce game, successfully challenging a Vekic drive that replay showed just a sliver wide of the sideline to hold for 6-5.
Rising up again, Vekic vanquished a second match point prevailing in that electric 17-shot rally to eventually force the tiebreaker.
Embed from Getty Images
Amid the surround sound of enthusiastic cheers from Centre Court fans, Vekic initially went up 3-1 in the tiebreaker. After Paolini regained the mini break, there was virtually nothing between the pair. Vekic drilled a forehand down the line to go up 8-7—two points from the final.
"She's moving really well, she’s aggressive, if you give her a short ball you have to keep going," Vekic said. "She doesn’t have the best serve but she's serving well enough.
"I felt in third set she was really serving well. My team tells me I can be proud of myself now, but it’s tough, it’s really tough. For sure I will take a couple of days to see everything. It's tough to be positive right now. It was so close and I had a lot of chances."
Photo credit: Rob Newell/CameraSport
The Wimbledon crowd has embraced Paolini, who was down and nearly out of the tournament facing a 3-5 third-set deficit to American Madison Keys in the fourth round before a tearful Keys suffered an injury that forced her to retire at 5-all.
Opportunity arrived and Paolini has exuded energy and enthusiasm making the most of it.
"I feel grateful to the crowd that is watching me. Yeah, I'm just enjoying," Paolini said. "I love to play in these kind of courts. It feels more special. Also to play important matches, it's so special.
"I'm so grateful that also the crowd was cheering for me. Yeah, it's a great feeling I think for a tennis player."
Refusing to back off the baseline, Paolini drained two final errors ending an epic that will remain with her for eternity.
Many Centre Court fans, left buzzed and breathless by this high drama, likely feel exactly the same way.