Jasmine Paolini (Italy) reached her second Grand Slam final of her career after winning an extremely contested and dramatic semi-final match with Donna Vekic (Croatia) at Wimbledon that lasted 2 hours and 54 minutes.
Donna Vekic won quite convincingly the first set, which lasted only 36 minutes and only the first game was long, going through six deuces. The Croatian made two breaks for 3:2 and 5:2 and had no problems with her serves.
The second and third sets were a real battles and left the viewers breathless. The drama was already outstanding at 4:4 and 15-15 in the second set, when Donna Vekic made a service double fault and seemingly suffered a collapse in her play. Jasmine Paolini was able to win the set with a break for 6:4 and it looked like she even took the lead from a psychological point of view.
Expectations of a continuation of Donna Vekic’s decline were not met, however, as she opened the third set with a break, but lost her advantage at 3:3. The two exchanged another break, and at 4:5 the shot saved a match point. She then missed two break points and Jasmine Paolini somehow won her serve after five deuces. Donna Vekic broke down in tears in the break between games, and reflected another match point, after which the two continued to fight in the tiebreak.
There, the Italian tennis player reached a third match point, and again on the serve of her opponent. This time, Donna Vekic could not neutralize it, betraying her otherwise strong weapon – the forehand.
The 57 unforced errors proved fatal for the Croatian tennis player, who converted 42 winners. Jasmine Paolini was much more defensive with 26 wins and 32 turnovers, again showing excellent defense.
