Jasmine Paolini treats her parents to incredible show in Wimbledon SF as Italian roars past Donna Vekic to reach 2nd straight Grand Slam final

Jasmine Paolini won one of the biggest matches of her career yet at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships on Thursday, easing past Donna Vekic the semifinals. With the win, Paolini has now reached her second Grand Slam final in a row, having done so at the French Open last month.

It was the Croat who drew first blood on Center Court, breaking early to go 3-2 up. After consolidating the break on her serve, Vekic broke serve once more to grab the set 6-2 in emphatic fashion.

In the second set, the duo were much more evenly matched, remaining on par until 4-4. However, Paolini broke serve on Donna Vekic's fifth service game on the set unexpectedly to take the set 6-4 and force a decider.

In the third set, the 28-year-old from Croatia started strongly once again, securing an early break of serve to take a 3-1 lead. In her next service game, however, Vekic surrendered the break, restoring parity at 3-3. She quickly earned the lead back again, breaking the Italian to go 4-3 up. Once again, Paolini refused to let the Croat run away with the lead, earning the break back for 4-4.

With the score reaching 5-5, Vekic had the chance to break serve again but could not convert, as the World No. 7 held on to make it 6-5. Serving to stay in the match, Vekic went 30*-40 down, but managed to hold the serve after facing a match point to force a 10-point tiebreaker.

There, the first mini-break went the Croat's way (3-1) but a loose shot on her own serve made the scores level again (3-3). The two then remained on pace with each other until 9-8*, when Vekic sent a forehand long to end the match after more than two hours and 50 minutes.

Paolini's brilliant display on Center Court delighted thousands of fans, among whom were also her father and mother. On more than one occasion, the cameras caught the 28-year-old's mother cheering her on after a point and celebrating her winners.

At the French Open, Jasmine Paolini fell to Iga Swiatek in the summit clash, and will be hoping for a reversal of fortunes when she takes the court in Saturday's final at Wimbledon.

Jasmine Paolini to take on either Elena Rybakina or Barbora Krejcikova in Wimbledon final

Day Eleven: The Championships - Wimbledon 2024

After beating Donna Vekic in the longest Wimbledon semifinal in women's history, Jasmine Paolini will next take on either Elena Rybakina or Barbora Krejcikova in the final on Saturday.

Paolini is tied with Rybakina 2-2 in the head-to-head, having beaten the Kazakh at the French Open on her way to the final this year. Against Krejcikova, on the other hand, the Italian trails 0-1, with their most recent battle coming all the way back in 2018.