London —After losing the first set, trailing by a break in the third set twice, and being two games from losing the final two sets, Jasmine Paolini persevered against Donna Vekic in what would turn out to be the longest Wimbledon women’s semifinal in history. Paolini continued reminding herself on Thursday to “try, point by point” and “fight for every ball” throughout the whole thing.
After defeating the unseeded Vekic in a thrilling 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (10-8) triumph that lasted two hours and fifty-one minutes on Center Court, Paolini—who had never won a match at the All England Club—will now play in her second straight Grand Slam final.
The seventh-seeded Paolini, who is vying for the crown against Barbora Krejcikova, ranked thirty-one, declared, “I will remember this match forever.” As will a great number of the thousands in attendance or the millions watching on television.
Paolini described it as “an emotional rollercoaster.” The second semifinal, which lasted 44 minutes less but had its own share of dramatic turns, was comparable. Elena Rybakina of Wimbledon in 2022 lost to Krejcikova of the French Open, who returned to win 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
In the eight previous tournament editions, the winner on Saturday will become the eighth woman to depart the All England Club with the trophy. Against Rybakina, who came into the match with a 19-2 lifetime record at the All England Club, Krejcikova fell behind 4-0 at the beginning of the match, but she won four of the next five games to capture the second set and then secured the crucial break to lead 5-3 in the third. “I was starting to gain momentum somewhere in the middle of the second set,” Krejcikova remarked. “And after I broke her, I fell into a zone that I didn’t want to come out of.”
However, it fell short of the drama that Paolini and Vekic created. Think about this: Vekic, playing in her first Slam quarterfinal, ultimately claimed 118-111 more points, produced 46 winners, and broke the serve more frequently (4-3).
Paolini reported that Paolini was hitting winners everywhere. But Paolini persisted, and after Vekic’s forehand went wide, she eventually converted her third match point. This performance on the grass courts at Wimbledon comes after Paolini’s defeat against Iga Swiatek in the French Open final match last month.
Since Serena Williams in 2016, Paolini, an Italian lady of 28 years old, is the first female to attend both the All England Club and Roland Garros championship events in the same season. “It’s been crazy for me these past few months,” Paolini said.
It wasn’t an easy victory for her. A more suitable word would be exhausting. In between sets and during the third set, Vekic frequently showed signs of evident suffering. She sobbed and glanced up at her guest box with a flushed face, explaining that she was experiencing pain in her arm and leg. Intermittently, she applied ice to her right forearm.
During her press conference, Vekic frequently closed her eyes, sighed, or shook her head. “I thought I was going to die in the third set,” she remarked. The woman remarked, “I could keep playing, I didn’t know how.”
How unexpected is Paolini’s recent rise? She had lost in the first or second round of 16 consecutive major tournaments, never making it past the second round, until she reached the fourth round of the Australian Open in January. And there’s this: until to this past two weeks, Paolini had a 0-3 career record at Wimbledon. Before last month’s tune-up event at Eastbourne, she had not, in fact, won a single tour-level match on grass anywhere.
The Czech Republic’s 28-year-old Krejcikova is not nearly as surprising as one might think, considering that she has won seven major championships, finished second in singles, and ranked one in doubles. In significant tournaments, she is currently 6-2 versus former Slam champions. When Krejcikova talked about the late Jana Novotna, her mentor, who won Wimbledon in 1998, she started to cry. “When I step on the court here, I’m just fighting for every single ball, because I think that’s what she would want me to do,” Krejcikova remarked. “I have so many beautiful memories.” “I just really miss her.” She is sorely missed.
Paolini took almost one and a half sets to get going, much like Krejcikova. Her unwavering perseverance was evident at 4 all in the second as she dashed towards the net to lob her racket, managing to get it back over it, and Vekic mishandled an overhead. With a forehand winner, Paolini broke for the set and had a 5-4 lead. She looked up at her guest box, where her doubles partner, Sara Errani, and relatives were standing, and exclaimed, “Forza!” (“Leave!”)
Before the final set, Vekic, who was playing her seventh three-setter in as many matches, went to the locker room to refocus and perform well. In the first game, Paolini’s missed forehand on an 11-stroke exchange and a forehand return winner on a second serve helped her break. Vekic soon had a 3-1 lead. A later exchange of breaks put her ahead 4-3. Vekic declared, “I thought I could win all the way through.”
Paolini now has a second opportunity to compete for her first Slam trophy after she stabilized herself, her racket, and her commitment. Still, as she prepared to proceed to the changing rooms, she had another thought. Paolini stated, “I’m heading to the ice bath right now because my legs are a little tired.”