Jasmine Paolini reaches back-to-back Grand Slam finals after longest women's semi-final in Wimbledon history against Donna Vekic
WTA
The first finalist is confirmed in the women's draw at 2024 Wimbledon and it is Jasmine Paolini with the World No.8 who will reach the top five after the tournament come what may reaching back-to-back Grand Slam finals.
She defeated Donna Vekic in the longest ever women's semi-final in Wimbledon history defeating the previous record set by Serena Williams in 2009 by just over one minutes with the duo out on court for two hours and 51 minutes. It finished 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(2) in favour of the seventh seed.
It was one of the greatest women's matches in the history of the tournament and one in which Vekic gave it everything against the Paolini enslaught. But in the biggest moment of her career so far, it was the 28-year-old Italian who proved to have the might and passion to win through an enthralling battle.
A true war of attrition and one in which Vekic was left in floods of tears at the end, she took the early impetus. She broke serve twice in a row en route to an epic opening set win in her favour. But Paolini came roaring back with tenacious Italian never giving up and setting Centre Court up for one of the best final sets of the tournament.
She edged the second and the right moment breaking for the set and had to show resolve again. She went 3-1 and 4-3 down against Vekic before turning the tables to go 5-4 up. She had match point twice on the serve of Vekic and both times, the Croat in tears and looking absolutely exhausted produced a clean winner each time to send it towards a tie-break.
The tie-break ebbed and flowed with Vekic looking to have the impetus as she continued to pull out incredible returns whilst also looking like she was exhausted and close to tears. She went 3-1 up including breaking serve and also held a 6-5 lead.
But with it being a race to ten in a super tie-break, it favoured Paolini who found more zip on her serve in the latter stages and dug deep into the well that Vekic couldn't. Bringing up the first match point, Vekic went long on the opportunity as the remarkable Italian reached back-to-back Grand Slam finals.
Samuel GillEditor-in-Chief
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has a broad background in tennis media. In his current role, he works closely with editors and writers to ensure coverage meets clear journalistic standards, with particular attention to verification, consistency, and timely updates when new information becomes available.
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