July 11, (THEWILL) – Jasmine Paolini has made history by becoming the first Italian woman to reach the Wimbledon final. The seventh seed defeated Croatia’s Donna Vekic in a marathon semi-final match on Centre Court that lasted 2 hours and 51 minutes.
The match was a back-and-forth battle, with Vekic taking the first set 6-2 before Paolini fought back to win the second 6-4. The deciding set went to a tiebreak, which Paolini eventually won 10-8. Both players showed signs of fatigue in the final set, with Vekic visibly emotional at times.
For Paolini, this marks an incredible turnaround on grass courts. Prior to this year’s Wimbledon, she had never won a match on the surface. She will face either Barbora Krejcikova or defending champion Elena Rybakina in Saturday’s final.
After the match, an elated Paolini said: “These last months have been crazy for me. I am trying to focus on what I have to do on court and I love playing tennis. It is amazing to be here and it is a dream.” She added that she would need an ice bath to recover from the physically demanding contest.
The semi-final set a new record as the longest women’s last-four match in Wimbledon history. The previous mark, which they beat by one minute, was set in 2009 in the match between Serena Williams and Elena Dementieva.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
