London – Jasmine Paolini in history: the victory – hard-fought, exhausting, beautiful and deserved – over the Croatian Donna Vekic gives her the first Wimbledon final of her career, conquered a few weeks after another final, that of Roland Garros, A Slam double that in the last 25 years had only been achieved by four other players, yet another confirmation of the feat achieved by the 28-year-old from Bagni di Lucca, the first Italian to reach the most prestigious epilogue of the Championships, where on Saturday she will face the Czech Barbora Krejcikova, n.32 Wta, who had the better in a comeback against the Kazakh Elena Rybakina. But the records do not end there: the victory against Vekic, lasting two hours and 51′ is already the longest semifinal in the ultra-centenary history of Wimbledon, and certainly among the most fought, exciting and spectacular. That Paolini won in a comeback, after a slow start, perhaps conditioned by the prestigious stage (the Centre Court), the stakes, the appointment with history.
But once freed from the tension, It was the Italian player who kept the initiative of the game the mostdictating the exchanges, always looking for different solutions, with variations and even runs to the net. And even when she went behind in the score, losing her serve, as in the third and decisive set, she never gave up, demonstrating once again an impressive mental strength. The same one she showed in Paris, on the occasion of her first Slam final.
In the same season, only Steffi Graf (1999), Serena Williams (2002, 2015 and 2016), Venus Williams (2002) and Justine Henin (2006), before her, had managed to reach the double final, first on the French red clay, then on the grass of SW19. An exceptional quintet, which reflects the new dimension of Jasmine, now former world no. 7 or soon to be, capable in 12 months of climbing the hierarchies of world tennis: from world no. 44, with zero matches won at Wimbledon, to finalist at the All England Club, and a new best ranking just around the corner. The match statistics should not be misleading: it is true that the Croatian won more points overall (118 against 111) and scored more winners (42 against 26), but she also committed more unforced errors (57 against 32), and above all she was less effective in converting break points: 4 out of 14 (29%) against Paolini’s 3 out of 7 (43%). This last statistic further enhances the Italian’s performance, capable of expressing the best of her tennis in crucial moments.
And even when she failed to convert two match points, which could have given her the victory much earlier, she was neither discouraged nor distracted. Winning an epic match, both in its development and in its fitting conclusion.
“It was a match I will always remember, a rollercoaster of emotions.. I struggled at the beginning because Donna kept hitting winners – Jasmine commented -. But I told myself to fight for every single ball, and to try to improve on my serve. I don’t know how I did it, but there is no better place for a tennis player than this court”. Where, cheering for her in the stands were her friend and doubles partner, Sara Errani, and her parents, Ugo and Jacqueline Gardiner. Her father is from Lucca, while her mother is “half Polish and half Ghanaian, to be precise, my grandmother is Polish and my grandfather is from Ghana”.
Her first fans, who accompanied her everywhere and always supported her, even when she was still far from the limelight.
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