Jasmine Paolini of Italy celebrates after defeating Donna Vekic of Croatia in the Wimbledon women's singles semi-finals. Photo: TAKUYA MATSUMOTO/AFP
Seventh seed Jasmine Paolini became the first Italian woman to reach the Wimbledon final after defeating Croatian Donna Vekic 2-6 6-4 7-6(8) in the longest women's semi-final at the All England Club.
Fans were treated to a roller-coaster encounter on Centre Court as both players exhausted themselves seeking a spot in the final. Paolini will face Barbora Krejcikova after the 2021 French Open champion beat Elena Rybakina in the second semi-final.
The two 28-year-olds were in uncharted territory, with Vekic playing the first major semi-final of her career while Paolini had never even won a match on grass before this year.
The Croatian took the opening set comfortably having broken Paolini, a surprise finalist at the French Open last month, in the fifth game and then again in the seventh with her mixture of groundstrokes and dropshots proving too much for the Italian under a sunny sky.
However, Paolini, cheered on by a loud contingent of Italians in the crowd, became more aggressive in the second as she approached the net more and put Vekic on the backfoot. Her diligence and energy eventually paid off with a break to clinch the set.
The pair exchanged numerous breaks in the decider as both racked up the unforced errors, particularly Vekic who looked fatigued and emotional as the match wore on. She was in tears after saving Paolini's first match point.
A successful challenge overturning a line call helped Paolini hold an almost 10-minute game that ended in Vekic sobbing in her chair at the changeover.
The Croatian rallied to save another match point and held serve to force a tiebreak but looked particularly laboured as she made 57 unforced errors in total and voiced her frustration to coach Pam Shriver in the players' box.
Paolini, in contrast, looked just as energised as she did at the start. She prevailed and won the two hour, 51 minute epic, during which both players ran more than 3.5 kilometres, to reach her second successive Grand Slam final.
"These last months have been crazy for me. I am trying to focus on what I have to do on court and I love playing tennis. It is amazing to be here and it is a dream," Paolini, who reached the semi-finals in Eastbourne last month, said on court.
"I think it was an intense match and I tried to play my best and now it's time to recover. I think I need an ice bath as my legs are a little bit tired."
The previous longest women's semi-final at Wimbledon was two hours and 50 minutes between Serena Williams and Elena Dementieva in 2009.
Krejcikova produced a superb comeback to reach her first Wimbledon final, showing stubborn resilience in the face of a relentless attacking barrage from Rybakina to triumph 3-6 6-3 6-4.
Kazakhstan's Rybakina had threatened to run away with the contest in the first set, racing to a 5-1 lead with her brand of full-throttle high intensity tennis.
Yet after losing the opener, the 2021 French Open champion dug in and eventually fathomed the puzzle on the other side of the net, breaking in the sixth game of the second set before levelling the contest.
With the momentum having shifted in her favour, the Czech took control in the decider, breaking in the seventh game when Rybakina netted an attempted dropshot.
She brought up three match points with a smash at the net before kicking off the celebrations when Rybakina sent a backhand return long.
Meanwhile, New Zealanders Erin Routliffe and Michael Venus have advanced to the mixed doubles semi-finals, beating Neal Skupski and Desirae Krawczyk, 7-5 6-4 in their latest match.
Routliffe will also appear in the women's doubles semi-final after she and Gaby Dabrowski won their quarterfinal against Krejcikova and Laura Siegemund, but Venus and Skupski lost their men's doubles semi-final, going down to Henry Patten and Harri Heliovarra. It broke a run of 12 winning matches for the Kiwi and Skupski, a Brit who won the doubles title with Dutchman Welsy Koolhof last year.
- Reuters