WIMBLEDON — In the longest Wimbledon semifinal of all time, No. 7 seed Jasmine Paolini beat Donna Vekic 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(8) in 2 hours and 51 minutes. Paolini, who came from a set and two breaks down in the deciding set, became the first Italian woman to reach the final at SW19 in the Open era. On Saturday, Paolini will meet Barbora Krejcikova, who defeated Elena Rybakina in three sets.
The longest Wimbledon semi-final was in 2009, when Serena Williams beat Elena Dementieva 6-7(4), 7-5, 8-6, a match that lasted 2 hours and 49 minutes.
Wimbledon 2024: the scores | Draws | Order of play
Fifteen years later, Paolini won her first match point at 5-4 in the third set and the second at 6-5 before beating Vekic on her third in a thrilling super tie-break. The result was her third win in four meetings with Vekic, and she had to withstand a barrage of 42 winners from the Croatian to prevail.
A finalist at Roland-Garros a month ago against Iga Swiatek, Paolini immediately confirmed her achievement by reaching her second major final. The 28-year-old is the first player since Serena Williams in 2016 to reach the final of Roland-Garros and Wimbledon in the same season. Paolini is only the fifth player to accomplish 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 match on grass before 2024, Paolini now has a record of 8-1 on the surface, her only defeat coming against Daria Kasatkina in the Eastbourne semi-final two weeks ago. Currently ranked 7th, her best ranking of her career, she is guaranteed a Top 5 debut next week.
How did the last minutes of the match go when it was decided down to the last minute?
This match proved to be a gruelling one even for the neutrals, and the crowd’s verdict was unanimous. When Paolini won the final rally, Centre Court rose as one to give both competitors a standing ovation. After nearly three hours of thrilling tennis, the fans were still ecstatic when they left: “What a match!”, “Superb quality!” and “This should have been the final!” were among the comments heard.
The final moments were the most tense. Vekic led 3-1 in the third set and broke for 4-3, but Paolini caught her every time. Vekic managed to find a service winner to avoid a match point at 5-4, but she was dealt a five-point fight in the next game, with Paolini holding for 6-5. On the final point of that game, Vekic used her final Hawkeye challenge and looked devastated as her forehand went inches wide.
But Vekic fought valiantly until the end. She saved another match point when she was 6-5 down by firing a forehand winner to end one of the best rallies of the day, and remained determined to play aggressively on that wing throughout a tiebreak in which neither player ever had more than a two-point lead over the other.
As the match wore on, Paolini found more and more ways to counter Vekic’s speed and quickly sensed the opportunities that presented themselves. Time and again, she hunted down Vekic’s most powerful shots, then turned defense into offense as soon as she could get her forehand in place. Ultimately, it was Vekic’s forehand that gave way on the final two points.
How did Paolini manage to reach the third set?
During her on-field interview, Paolini admitted that her back was against the wall.
“She was playing amazing, she was hitting winners,” she said. “I struggled at first. I thought I had to fight for every ball and try to get a little better on the court because I was really bad at serving.”
Indeed, Vekic’s dominance in the first set came down to her serve. The world number 37 conceded just three points in total on her serve and didn’t hesitate to punish Paolini on her second serve. Although Paolini won 11 of 15 points on her first serve, that figure fell to just five of 17 on her second serve. Unable to consistently take the lead, Paolini found just five winners to Vekic’s 12.
But the second set saw Paolini emerge with renewed intensity. She began to decipher Vekic’s strategy of stealthy drop shots and responded with precise lobs and brilliant volleys. At 2-2, she fended off two break points with a decisive serve.
The turning point came at 4-4. After a desperate defensive lob from Paolini (above), Vekic prepared to slam the winner over his head, but he sent the ball wide of the tram lines. To gasps from the crowd, Paolini continued to hold and seized his opportunity in the next play by increasing his aggression on the return.
“I will always remember this match,” Paolini exclaimed during the on-court interview. She is not the only one who remembers it.
“It’s hard to be positive”: Speaking to reporters after the match, a bewildered Vekic said her team had told her they could be proud of themselves, both for their courageous run to their first Grand Slam semi-final and for the quality they had shown.
“I don’t know,” she said. “It’s hard to be positive right now. It was so close. I had a lot of chances.”
“It was a very tough match. I believed I could win until the end. She played incredible tennis. Congratulations to her. She really deserved it.”
Had Vekic won the deciding match, she would have become the first woman in the Open era to reach a Grand Slam final after winning five matches in three sets. Having also reached the Bad Homburg final the week before Wimbledon, she said she had struggled physically.
“I thought I was going to die in the third set,” Vekic said. “I had so much pain in my arm, in my leg. It wasn’t easy on the court, but I’ll recover. My tears weren’t from… I mean, I don’t know. I was crying mostly because I was in so much pain, I didn’t know how I could continue playing.”
“Right now, I’m living this”: Asked what surprised her most about herself over the past two months, Paolini said it was not just the results, but also how she handles them.
“It was crazy to think that I could play two Grand Slam finals in a row, I guess, right?” she said. “I’m also surprised how I’m handling it right now, so far. I feel like I might be really nervous on Saturday, I don’t know. But I also feel relaxed. I’m the same person. I’m doing the same things. I’m a little surprised how I’m handling it.”
“I don’t want to say more because maybe on Saturday I’ll be shaking. I’m surprised to be living this with a really relaxing mood, you know?”