Italy's Jasmin Paolini made history by becoming the first Italian woman to reach a Wimbledon final, defeating Donna Vekić in a thrilling 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(8) match. Paolini, who had never won a Wimbledon match before this year, will face Barbora Krejcikova in the final after an impressive tournament performance.
Italy's Jasmin Paolini, who had never won a match at Wimbledon until last week, reached the final after a nail-biting match against Donna Vekić. Paolini becomes the first Italian woman in history to reach a Wimbledon final after defeating Donna Vekić 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(8) in an all-time classic.
After surviving the emotional match, which lasted for 2 hours and 51 minutes, one of the longest Women's singles matches in Wimbledon history, Paolini could celebrate becoming the first Italian woman to reach the Wimbledon final.
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It has been a tough year for Paolini. Earlier this year, she had never advanced past the second round in any Slam, despite reaching the last 16 at the Australian Open in January.
Entering Wimbledon without a previous victory at the All England Club, Paolini has now secured six wins and has only dropped two sets throughout the tournament.
She reached her first Grand Slam final at Roland Garros but was defeated by the world number one, Iga Swiatek. "This last month has been crazy for me. I'm trying just to focus on what I have to do on the court, and enjoy what I'm doing because I love playing tennis. It's amazing to be here playing in this stadium. It's a dream. I was watching Wimbledon finals when I was a kid, so I'm enjoying it and just living in the present."
"I was trying to think about what to do on the court point by point and repeating to myself that there is no place better than here to fight for every ball, every point. For a tennis player, this is the best place to play a match like this and, thank you for cheering for me," she said to a huge applause from the Centre Court crowd.
Vekić paid the price for 57 unforced errors, with the semi-final fittingly ending on another wild forehand from the unseeded Croatian. Unable to contain her frustration at letting 3-1 and 4-3 leads slip in the last set, Vekić broke down in tears in the closing stages of a rollercoaster clash. "I was crying because I had so much pain. I didn't know how I could keep playing," Vekić said.
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"I thought I was going to die in the third set. I had so much pain in my arm, in my leg."
Italy's Jasmin Paolini will compete against Barbora Krejcikova, the 2021 French Open champion, in Saturday's final. Krejcikova secured her spot by defeating Elena Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the second semifinal.
- By Shreya Aradhya