PREVIEW
Barbora Krejcikova had a bad back and just a handful of wins this season before Wimbledon 2024.
FOLLOW THE MATCH LIVE | BARBORA KREJCIKOVA VS JASMINE PAOLINI LIVE SCORE, WIMBLEDON 2024
So, yeah, she’s pretty surprised to have reached the final at the All England Club on Saturday against No. 7 Jasmine Paolini, who is equally amazed to be one step away from the title.
Neither has played in a Wimbledon singles final before — Paolini was 0-3 at the grass-court major before this tournament started — and their meeting ensures there will be yet another new champion. Wimbledon has seen seven women win the past seven singles titles, dating to when Serena Williams won her seventh in 2016.
Both Krejcikova and Paolini dropped their first set in the semifinals before fighting back to reach the final.
Krejcikova, the No. 31 seed, ousted 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Centre Court after Paolini outlasted Donna Vekic 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (10-8) in the longest Wimbledon women’s semifinal on record.
For both winners, the momentum turned when they started playing more aggressively, which they’ll likely need to do again on Saturday.
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The 28-year-old Krejcikova dropped her first three service games, though she also broke the hard-serving Rybakina twice in the first set to at least give her something to build on as she mounted her comeback.
Krejcikova likes to come to the net — she’s won seven Grand Slam doubles titles, including two at Wimbledon — and after just one approach in the first set, she won 11 points on 14 trips forward.
Before the semifinal, Krejcikova acknowledged: “I didn’t really expect to get this far.”
She reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in January but was then slowed by a back injury and what she described as a series of illnesses.
After Melbourne Park, she played only nine matches — winning three — before coming to the All-England Club. Two of the victories came at a grass-court tuneup tournament at Birmingham.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
The 28-year-old Paolini, who is Italian and has family ties to Poland and Ghana, is the first woman representing Italy to reach the Wimbledon final in the Open era, which began in 1968.
She is also the first woman to get to the title matches at the French Open and Wimbledon in the same season since Williams in 2016.
After getting some rest, both Paolini and Krejcikova have plenty to work on. Krejcikova committed six double faults against Rybakina. Paolini wasted two match points before putting away Vekic and said afterwards, “I was drowning, but I managed to swim.”
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The 5-foot-4 (1.63-meter) Paolini tries to control rallies with early strikes and frustrates opponents by seemingly getting to every spot on the court defensively. Emma Navarro, who eliminated Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka before losing to Paolini in the quarterfinals, said the Italian was “on top of me from the very first point.”
JASMINE PAOLINI ROUTE TO FINAL
Semifinal: beat Donna Vekic (CRO) 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (10-8)
Quarterfinal: beat Emma Navarro (USA) 6-2, 6-1
Round of 16: beat Madison Keys (USA) 6-3, 6-7, 5-5 (Keys retired hurt)
Third round: beat Bianca Andreescu (CAN) 7-6, 6-1
Second round: beat Greet Minnen (BEL) 7-6, 6-2
First round: beat Sara Sorribes Tormo (ESP) 7-5, 6-3
BARBORA KREJCIKOVA ROUTE TO FINAL
Semifinal: beat Elena Rybakina (KAZ) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
Quarterfinal: beat Jeļena Ostapenko (LAT) 6-4, 7-6
Round of 16: beat Danielle Collins (USA) 7-5, 6-3
Third round: beat Jessica Bouzas Maneiro (ESP) 6-0, 4-3 (Maneiro retired hurt)
Second round: beat Katie Volynets (USA) 7-6, 7-6
First round: beat Veronika Kudermetova (RUS) 7-6, 6-7, 7-5
LIVESTREAM AND TELECAST INFO
Where to watch the Wimbledon 2024 ladies’ singles final?
(With inputs from AP)
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