Jasmine Paolini writes history: she’s in the final at Wimbledon
Jasmine Paolini writes history: è in Wimbledon final
In the longest Wimbledon women’s singles semifinal ever played, 2 hours and 51 minutes, Jasmine Paolini made history by qualifying for the Wimbledon final by beating Croatia’s Donna Vekic, world number 37, by a score of 2-6 6-4 7-6.
The first set è a domination of the 28-year-old Croatian: Paolini has to save two break points already; in the very long first game, then from 2-1 Vekic threads a series of five consecutive games that give her the partial.
Jasmine saves a break point in the third game and two in the fifth of the second set but she also misses one in the fourth game. Finally at 5-4 she breaks serve from a’s hitherto nearly perfect opponent and extends the match.
In the third set immediately break for Donna who then also has a 3-0 ball with double break. It seems over but Jasmine cancels it and from 3-1 recovers to 3-3, when però she suffers another break.
But Vekic in turn breaks serve and on 5-4 gives Paolini a match point but saves it with her first serve and the same thing Jasmine does on a break ball on 5-5 and on another one almost immediately after.
By now Vekic è in tears and with a backhand error she concedes another match point to Paolini but cancels that too with a crazy exchange. It goes to the super tie-break and it comes to 8-8 and here Vekic with two errors makes Jasmine Paolini enter tennis history.
The 28-year-old Tuscan from Bagni di Lucca è the first Italian to reach the final in the temple of tennis but above all è the first Italian, including men, to hit the final at Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same year, the’last woman to do so was none other than Serena Williams in 2016.
Jasmine è already sure, however Saturday’s final goes, to climb from No. 7 to No. 5 in the world, equaling her doubles partner Sara Errani and staying one step below Francesca Schiavone, while in the Race, the one covering 2024 alone, è even No. 3.
Here are Jasmine’s words after the match: “She played me winners everywhere and played at a very high level, è it was an incredible fight and a match that I will remember forever. There ’è no better audience than this to be able to give my best, thanks also to all the Italians here”.
