Record-breaking Paolini beats Vekic, to play Krejcikova in final

Mumbai: As the clock struck two hours and fifty minutes and it became the longest-ever women’s singles semi-final at Wimbledon, Jasmine Paolini exulted having set up match point. Moments later, she was rejoicing once again after completing an astonishing 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(8) victory against Croatia’s Donna Vekic on Centre Court.

It was another extraordinary result for the 28-year-old, who had never gone past the third round of a Grand Slam until Roland Garros this year. The Italian seventh seed became the first woman since Serena Williams in 2016 to reach the French Open and Wimbledon finals in the same season. She will now face Czech Republic’s Barbora Krejcikova, who completed a turnaround of her own to beat fourth seed Elena Rybakina 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, for the title on Saturday.

Paolini was nearly taken out in the round of 16 by Madison Keys. In the quarter-finals, she played some of her best tennis to dominate Emma Navarro, who had made light work of Coco Gauff, one of the tournament favourites, in the previous round. But it was on Saturday when Paolini produced her most impressive performance to bounce back from a set down against the resurgent Vekic.

There aren’t really any striking weapons in Paolini’s game. Neither are her groundstrokes the most powerful not her serve the most lethal. But along with her speed and incredible consistency from the baseline, what’s worked wonders for her over these dreamy past couple of months is her courage and composure under pressure.

She looked all over the place in the opening set against Vekic. Her first serve was at just 47% and she got broken twice as her opponent brought the heat from the back of the court. From there, however, it was a different story altogether and the real battle begun. Paolini’s first serve percentage jumped to 72 in the second set and she found her range from the baseline as well. It was a testament to her temperament that she put the initial setback behind her quickly.

In the decider, too, she was under the pump as Vekic showed remarkable grit to break early in the set and then again to lead 4-3. But each time, Paolini simply refused to go away. With her opponent continuing to be the aggressor, she relied on her defence and remained patient for her moments. In the match tie-breaker, it was this resilience that got her over the line as Vekic, despite leading 8-7, committed three consecutive errors to lose the contest.

For Vekic, who had reached a career-high ranking of 19 in 2019 after reaching the US Open quarter-finals, it will remain a day to remember nonetheless. The 28-year-old had nearly quit tennis after a knee surgery in 2021 led to a string of disappointing results. Since reaching the Australian Open quarter-finals last year, though, her career has moved in the right direction. And by reaching the semi-finals of a Grand Slam for the first time now, having been knocked out in the first round from Majors a staggering 20 times since making her debut in 2013, she’ll take immense confidence going forward.

The day, however, belonged to Paolini. She was blown away in the French Open final by world No.1 Iga Swiatek, but there’s reason to believe she can go all the way if she matches the tenacity she showed against Vekic.

“It was really tough today, she (Vekic) played unbelievably,” said Paolini on court after her win. “She was hitting winners everywhere and I was struggling at the beginning, but I kept repeating to myself that I should fight for every ball and keep improving. I was serving really badly but I’m so happy with the win. I’ll remember this match forever. I was just trying to find solutions point by point. There’s no place better than here to put up a fight. I think these last two months have been crazy for me. I’m just trying to focus on court because I love playing tennis. I used to watch Wimbledon finals as a kid and it’s a dream to be playing here.”

In the second semi-final, 2021 French Open champion Krejcikova delivered a memorable performance to reach a Grand Slam final in singles for the second time in her career. The 28-year-old, who has won 10 Majors across women’s doubles and mixed doubles, looked down and out trailing 0-4 in the opening set, but showed character to turn things around.

With top seed Swiatek getting knocked out in the third round, Gauff not making it past the round of 16 and world No.3 Aryna Sabalenka withdrawing before the start of the tournament due to injury, Rybakina was being looked at as the firm favourite this week at the All England Club. But the 25-year-old Russian-born Kazakh, who had emerged as Wimbledon champion in 2022, paid the price for being erratic on both flanks.

Krejcikova tightened her game and despite needing six set points, she managed to draw level in the match. With the momentum having swung decidedly in her favour, she broke twice in the decider to complete a third win in as many matches against Rybakina.