Jasmine Paolini Reaches Wimbledon Finals After Historic Match Against Donna Vekic

Jasmine Paolini, the number seven seed, advanced to the Wimbledon finals after defeating Donna Vekic in the longest semifinal in the tournament’s history on Thursday. Paolini won 2-6, 6-4, 7-6[8] in a match that lasted two hours and 51 minutes, becoming the first Italian woman to reach the finals in the Open Era.

The previous longest Wimbledon semifinal was between Serena Williams and Elena Dementieva in 2009. Paolini, who was the runner-up at Roland Garros last month, has now reached her second major final this season. She is the first player since Serena Williams in 2016 to reach the finals of both the French Open and Wimbledon in the same season.

Paolini held her first match point at 5-4 during the third set and her second at 6-5. She eventually edged Vekic in a gripping tie-break, registering her third win in four matches against Vekic. Paolini withstood 42 winners from the Croatian to secure her victory.

Before 2024, Paolini had never won a grass match at tour-level. She now has a record of eight wins and one loss on the surface, with her only loss coming against Daria Kasatkina in the Eastbourne semifinals two weeks ago. With this move to the finals, she is guaranteed to make her top-five debut in the WTA Rankings next week.

In her post-match interview, Paolini admitted that she struggled against Vekic. “She was playing unbelievable, she was hitting winners everywhere. I was struggling at 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,” she said. “This match I will remember forever,” Paolini exclaimed.