Jasmine Paolini recovered from a set down against Donna Vekic on semifinal Thursday, becoming the first French Open and Wimbledon ladies’ finalist in the same year since Serena Williams’ historic 2016 campaign. Barbora Krejcikova’s fighting spirit saw her oust 2022 champion Elena Rybakina later – an eighth different singles champion in the last eight editions will be sealed on Saturday.
Paolini powers past Vekic in exhausting duel
Paolini [7] bt. Vekic 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (10-8)
- Paolini post-match: “She [Vekic] played unbelievable, was hitting winners everywhere and I struggled at the beginning but just repeated to myself: fight for every ball and improve. I’m so happy with this win, I’ll remember this match forever. There’s no place better than here to fight, for a tennis player this is the best place to play a match like this, I’m grateful.”
- Having struggled physically at times and appearing to ride an emotional rollercoaster of her own, Vekic led the deciding set ten-point tiebreak 3-1 and 8-7, but Paolini recovered from behind in what later clocked in as the longest ladies’ Wimbledon semi-final in history (two hours, 51 minutes)
- Understatement! Paolini describes the last few months as “crazy” and 28-year-old Italian admits she still hasn’t realised the height of her unprecedented achievements lately, having not previously won a tour-level match on grass in her career before Eastbourne three weeks ago
JASMINE Paolini hadn’t won a Wimbledon main draw match before this fortnight, and now the French Open runner-up is just one more determined performance away from Saturday’s coveted prize against a fellow maiden singles finalist.
She suffered first-round defeats in each of the last three seasons (Andrea Petkovic, Petra Kvitova twice) and her sole SW19 win came way back in 2017 – a first-round qualifying victory over British wildcard Eden Silva – before a three-set defeat in the very next stage. Before this season, her best Major result was four second-round exits.
The declaration was met with laughter but she accepted it was a poor serving start post-match. Having landed just 47% of her first serves in set one, it had cranked up 25% in a testing second set just as Donna Vekic was beginning to hum along nicely.
Vekic produced 108 and 113mph unreturnable serves out wide with the score level at 30-all to earn a gritty service hold (4-4) in the second stanza, before you could sense a momentum shift without warning after an interesting rally in the next game.
Vekic missed an overhand smash in the subsequent game, having been drawn towards the net after Paolini showed great wheels to retrieve a top spin lob. The Tuscany native fed off that nervy energy and cranked up the stress levels more before snatching the set entirely. From there, it was anyone’s game and both knew that.
More twists and turns in the third
Her first serve, the very same weapon she’d improved upon in set two, deserted her early in the decider. Vekic broke first but she didn’t dwell on that disappointment long, for she couldn’t afford to. Instead she displayed good hand skills at the net, aggressive groundstrokes and importantly maintained pressure to break back at 3-3.
Vekic began feeling the tension a bit more now, passive and scrambled decision-making were a more frequent theme, though fine margins found her fashion a pair of break points and she gladly crunched a 66mph second serve to trade service breaks.
Yet another twist came, match commentators questioning whether it was fatigue or a pre-existing injury, as the Croatian’s right forearm was noticeably weaker and she looked physically spent. Gift-wrapping Paolini an immediate break back, Paolini had two match points – both saved – as Vekic consciously hit harder to shorten rallies.
Into a ten-point tiebreaker they went and their 2024 records foreshadowed the finish: Paolini was 5-2, Vekic 2-6 in this format so far this season. Just as it looked like the more seasoned pro had a commanding lead, the terrier-like nature of Paolini’s defensive skills would show themselves again and force uncomfortable situations.
Vekic’s forehand was firing again, but Paolini didn’t care. It felt almost perfect the Italian’s fastest serve of the day (108mph) set up her third match point, defending defiantly again in clinching victory from a set down to continue a fairytale fortnight.
Krejcikova next after recovery leaves Rybakina reeling
Krejcikova [31] bt. Rybakina [4] 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
- Krejcikova’s post-match interview: “It’s unbelievable, very tough to explain what I’m feeling right now. A lot of joy, emotions, relief and super proud about my game and fighting spirit today. I was down, started 0-4… just tried fighting for every single ball, got my momentum in the second after breaking her and started to get in the zone – I didn’t want to leave it!”
- Inspiration: 28-year-old Czech pays tribute to her first pro coach and 1998 singles champion Jana Novotna, who died in November 2017 after cancer
- Silver lining: 2022 titlist Rybakina, doubtful coming into the tournament after retiring from Berlin with illness on June 21, finishes fortnight with third-best Major attainment in 20 main draw entries
The phrase seeing the tennis ball like a football rung true for 2022 Wimbledon titleholder Elena Rybakina, who raced to a 4-0 lead after just 19 minutes against 2021 French Open winner Barbora Krejcikova as she powerfully punched groundstrokes back with interest while chipping away at the Czech’s resistance.
Helped by a stuttering serve opposite her, the hard-hitting Kazakh provided depth and expert point construction to keep the doubles specialist on the move throughout – while firing off several serves surpassing 110mph as Krejcikova was pinned behind the baseline against the newly-installed tournament favourite.
However, her stubborn ability to hang in their longer rally exchanges while switching up the rhythm with slice helped provide break point opportunities, as two netted forehand returns finally got the former world no. 2 on the board.
The next half-hour was a blur, four consecutive breaks of serve and two set points saved as Krejcikova’s level steadily improved while Rybakina was reeling off more unforced errors in longer exchanges while gesticulating at her player box.
Krejcikova saved break points in each of her first three service games, before stealing a 4-2 lead of her own from an increasingly agitated Rybakina as she used booming backhands and drop shots to clinical effect.
Krejcikova served well to create a trio of set points, all three saved, before double-faulting on no. 4 and a fifth, as the tension heightened.
Eventually though, more line-kissing returns were rewarded with more erratic hitting down the other end as they entered a deciding set where both had to navigate pressure points early – 0-30 down – before Krejcikova drew first blood to lead 4-3.
Blistering forehand groundstrokes forced her into more pressure as she looked to consolidate said break, though she didn’t panic and did precisely that. Three more Rybakina errors, sandwiched with a smash at the net saw the 28-year-old seal passage into her second Major singles final – and 12th across multiple disciplines.
They’ve only met once, back at Australian Open qualifying in 2018, with plenty of progression since. On paper Krejcikova has more ways to win in a competitive matchup, though it’ll be interesting to see whether Paolini has learned any lessons from her Roland-Garros final defeat, albeit against a more inconsistent proposition.
“She’s a huge fighter and showed that today – same from me – we’re both playing great tennis and it’ll be a great match on Saturday.”
Plenty has been said about Krejcikova’s doubles prowess but singles play is so much different and her surprise at reaching this feat can still be topped. 26 years after her old coach Jana struck gold here, can she follow in her compatriot’s footsteps?
Picture source: Getty Images, quotes via BBC TV
Mo and Sports 