Jasmine Paolini wins emotional, dramatic women’s semi-final at Wimbledon
Jasmine Paolini is a late bloomer. After years of indifferent results, she reached last month’s French Open final and is now into the Wimbledon decider after ousting a devastated Donna Vekic.
Jasmine Paolini is melting hearts and winning them. The Italian won a tense, emotional and dramatic Wimbledon semi-final over devastated Croatian Donna Vekic on Thursday before strutting off Centre Court to a standing ovation while shouting, “Grazie! Grazie! Thank you! Thank you!”
The crowd-pleasing 28-year-old had never won a match on grass before this year. Now she’s one victory from being crowned the Wimbledon champion. Mamma mia!
She’s as popular as it gets, a 163cm bundle of energy, enthusiasm and fist-pumping passion. She became the first Italian woman to reach the singles final by sneaking past Vekic 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (10/8) in two hours and 51 minutes – the longest ladies’ semi-final in Wimbledon’s 147-year history.
“I’m feeling amazing,” Paolini said. “Today has been a really, really tough match. Emotional match. I’m just feeling so great. I’m really enjoying to play in the big stadium. I feel grateful to the crowd that is watching me.
“I love to play in these kind of courts, it feels more special. To play important matches, it’s so special. I’m so grateful that also the crowd was cheering for me. It’s a great feeling for a tennis player.”
Paolini is a late bloomer. After years of indifferent results, she reached last month’s French Open final and is now into the Wimbledon decider.
If someone told her a year ago this would be happening? “I think even two months ago,” she said. “You are crazy. I don’t have words. Just, you are crazy, I would say.”
Veni, vidi, vici. Paolini came, she saw, she conquered against Vekic. She will face Barbora Krejcikova in the final after the Czech upset 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in Thursday’s second semi-final, another marathon lasting two hours and seven minutes.
“It’s unbelievable,” Krejcikova said. “It’s very tough to explain the emotions I’m feeling right now. It’s just a lot of joy and I’m so proud of myself and my fighting spirit. I started to be in a zone and I didn’t want to leave the zone. I’m in the final. Wow.”
Krejcikova used to be coached by the late Jana Novotna, the popular Czech player who won Wimbledon in 1998.
Krejcikova spent a lot of time with Novotna in the last months of her cancer battle. Aged 49, Novotna passed away in 2017. In tears when Novotna’s name was mentioned on Centre Court, Krejcikova said. “I just miss her a lot.”
Waterworks were everywhere. Vekic cried during her loss to Paolini. She shed more tears in her post-match press conference.
“I thought I was going to die in the third set,” she said. “I had so much pain in my arm, in my leg. It was not easy out there. My tears were not because – I mean, I don’t know.
“I was more crying because I had so much pain. I didn’t know how I could keep playing. My team tells me that I can be proud of myself but it’s tough to be positive right now. It’s really tough. I will need to take a couple of days to see everything. It was so close.”
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