Wimbledon 2024: Jasmine Paolini narrowly edges past Donna Vekic for spot in final

Wimbledon 2024: In a semi-final match that lasted just under 3 hours and is now the longest recorded in Wimbledon, Paolini fought back from a set down to take the decider in the tie-breaker

Jasmine Paolini seals spot in Wimbledon final

Jasmine Paolini is having quite a year. Only weeks after the 28-year-old played and lost in her first-ever French Open final (she was beaten by Iga Swiatek), she’s booked a spot in the Wimbledon finale. Paolini emerged victor at the end of a gruelling 2-hour-51-minute match against Donna Vekic, the longest recorded semi-final in the ladies’ singles category.

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The win makes Paolini the first Italian in a Wimbledon final and puts her in a short list of players who’d made it to the French and Wimbledon finals in the same calendar year. She will now play the winner of the second semi-final between Elena Rybakina and Barbora Krejčíková in the final on July 13.

Paolini’s win, though, does not necessarily make her the superior player of the day. Throughout the match, Vekic was going neck-to-neck with Paolini, with some scintillating tennis in action. Her serve was good and she was hitting winners galore, which saw her take the first set with relative ease.

But then Jasmine turned the tide around, forcing the match into a third deciding set. This is where it got even more interesting. Paolini had to fight her way back after being broken by Vekic early on and could not convert at least 2 match points – one when she was leading at 5-4 and the second at 6-5. Even in the tie-breaker, the ladies were evenly poised at 8-8, after which Paolini scraped through by bagging the next two points to take the game, set and match.

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Meanwhile, in the men’s semis, defending champion Carlos Alcaraz will play Daniil Medvedev and Novak Djokovic will take on Lorenzo Musetti on July 12. The matches can be streamed live on Disney+ Hotstar in India.

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