LONDON – Jasmine Paolini reached her second consecutive Grand Slam final with a 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (10-8) victory over the unseeded Donna Vekic at the Wimbledon on Thursday in an entertaining match that lasted 2 hours and 51 minutes, making it the longest women’s semi-final on record at the tournament.
Paolini kept coming back, coming back, coming back – after losing the opening set, after being two games away from 4-4 defeat in the second, after twice trailing by a break in the third at 3-1 and 4-3.
But Paolini, number 7, never went away, eventually converting his third match point when Vekic sent a forehand wide. This exhibition on the grass courts of the All England Club follows Paolini’s trajectory runner-up to Iga Swiatek on red clay at Roland Garros last month.
The 28-year-old Italian is the first woman to compete for the French Open and Wimbledon title in the same season since Serena Williams in 2015 and 2016.
“These last few months have been crazy for me,” Paolini said with a laugh.
On Saturday, she will face No. 4 Elena Rybakina or #31 Barbora Krejcikova. Both were once great champions: Rybakina won Wimbledon in 2022; Krejcikova won the French Open in 2021.
O men’s semifinals Friday they are Carlos Alcaraz x Daniil Medvedev and Novak Djokovic x Lorenzo Musetti.
Paolini’s victory on Center Court was not easy for either woman. Vekic often appeared to be in distress, crying between points or as she sat in her transition chair at the end of the third set. She iced her right forearm between games or looked at the guest box with a red face.
How surprising was this increase from Paolini?
She never got past the second round at any major tournament – losing in the first or second round in 16 consecutive matches – until she reached the fourth round of the Australian Open in January. And then there’s this: Paolini’s career record at Wimbledon was 0-3 until this fortnight. In fact, she didn’t claim a single victory on grass anywhere until a tune-up event at Eastbourne last month.
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