Paolini defeats Vekic in record-breaking Wimbledon semi-final

Wimbledon – In the longest Wimbledon semifinal ever, No. 7 seed Jasmine Paolini defeated Donna Vekic 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(8) in 2 hours and 51 minutes. Paolini, who fought back from a set down and being down twice in the deciding set, became the first Italian woman to reach a SW19 final in the Open era.

The previous longest Wimbledon semi-final was Serena Williams’ 6–7(4), 7–5, 8–6 loss to Elena Dementieva in 2009, a contest that lasted 2 hours and 49 minutes.

Wimbledon 2024: scores , pulls , order of play

Fifteen years later, Paolini held his first match point at 5–4 in the third set and the second at 6–5 before defeating Vekic in a thrilling super-tiebreak in the third set. The result was his third win in four meetings with Vekic, and he had to endure a barrage of 42 winners from the Croatian to achieve it.

Paolini, runner-up to Iga Swiatek at Roland Garros a month ago, has immediately returned to that run with her second major final. The 28-year-old is the first player since Serena Williams in 2016 to reach the French Open and Wimbledon finals in the same season. Paolini is only the fifth player to achieve this feat in the last 25 years, after Stefanie Graf (1999), Serena Williams (2002, 2015, 2016), Venus Williams (2002) and Justine Henin (2006).

Having never won a tour-level match on grass before 2024, Paolini’s record on the surface is now 8-1, with her only loss coming to Daria Kasatkina in the Eastbourne semi-finals two weeks ago. Currently at a career-high ranking of No. 7, she is guaranteed a top 5 debut next week.

As the match ended in a draw, how was the closing stages?

It was a match that proved nerve-wracking even for neutrals, and the crowd’s verdict was unanimous. As Paolini came out on top in the final rally, Center Court gave both competitors a standing ovation. After almost three hours of exciting tennis, fans were still in high spirits and exclaimed: “What a match!” “Fantastic quality!” and “Should’ve been last!” were among the overheard comments.

The closing phase was the most stressful. Vekic took a 3–1 lead in the third set, and then a break at 4–3, but Paolini broke back both times. Vekic managed to find a service winner to save a match point at 5–4, but came out on the wrong end of a five-deuce tussle in the subsequent game and Paolini leveled at 6–5. On the final point of that game, Vekic used her final Hawkeye challenge, and she looked frustrated as it revealed her forehand had gone inches wide.

But Vekic fought bravely till the end. She saved another match point at 6–5 with a forehand winner to end one of the best rallies of the day, and remained committed to aggression from that wing during the tiebreak, in which neither player ever led by more than two points. Was not further than. Other.

However, as the match progressed, Paolini was able to find more and more ways to counter Vekic’s pace, and quickly seized opportunities for himself. Time and again, she tracked Vekic’s hardest shots, then turned defense into attack as soon as she could set her forehand. In the end, it was the Vekic forehand that broke on the two final points.

How did Paolini fight to reach the third set in the first place?

In his on-court interview, Paolini admitted that his back was against the wall.

“She was playing unbelievable, she was winning everywhere she went,” he said. “I was struggling in the beginning. I told myself to fight for every ball and try to improve a little bit on the court, because I was serving really bad.”

In fact, Vekic’s dominance in the first set came down to service. The world number 37 lost only three points in total on the back of her delivery, and had no compunction in punishing Paolini’s second serve. Although Paolini won 11 of 15 points on his first delivery, this dropped to just five of 17 on his second delivery. Unable to consistently get on the front foot, Paolini found only five winners compared to Vekic’s 12.

But Paolini emerged with new intensity in the second set. She began to read Vekic’s sneak drop shot strategy, and responded with pinpoint lobs and spectacular volleys. At 2-2, she saved two break points with clutch serving.

The decisive turn came at 4-4. After a desperate defensive lob from Paolini (above), Vekic prepared to slam home the overhead winner – only to send it wide of the tramline. Amid gasps from the crowd, Paolini moved forward and took advantage of her opportunity in the next game by increasing her aggression on the return.

“I will always remember this match,” Paolini said in an on-court interview. She’s not the only one who would do this.

“It’s hard to be positive”: Facing the press afterwards, a disappointed Vekic said that his team had told him that he should be proud of himself – both for his great performance in his first Grand Slam semi-final and the quality he showed in it.

“I don’t know,” she said. “It’s hard to stay positive right now. It was very close. I had a lot of chances.”

“It was a tough, tough match. I believed I could win until the end. She played some amazing tennis. Everyone congratulates her. She definitely deserved it.”

Had Vekic won the decider, she would have become the first woman in the Open era to reach a Grand Slam final by winning five three-set matches. After reaching the Bad Homburg final in the week before Wimbledon, she said she was struggling physically.

“I thought I was going to die in the third set,” Vekic said. “There was a lot of pain in my arm, in my leg. It wasn’t easy there, but I’ll be OK. My tears weren’t because I… I mean, I don’t know. I was crying more because I It was hurting so much, I didn’t know how I was going to continue playing.”