The 2024 Wimbledon championships have seen many twists and turns. While many favorites have bowed out of the tournament, some first-timers in the latter stages are making waves. Among them are the likes of Jasmine Paolini and Donna Vekic, both of whom entered the semifinals of Wimbledon for the maiden time. As a result, emotions are sure to run through on tennis’ biggest stage.

In what was a see-saw battle, the match between Vekic and Paolini went right into the distance. The former even had a chance to close out the match at 5-6 while serving for the set. However, she couldn’t control her emotions and had a breakdown in what was the biggest moment of her career. Eventually, she wasted the chance to close out the match and lost it in the final set tiebreaker, 6-2, 4-6, 6-7 (8).

After numerous attempts, it was Vekic’s first semifinal appearance at Grand Slam tournaments. Her previous best was a quarterfinal appearance at the Australian Open and the US Open. Thus, the stage meant so much to her and she lost control over her emotions as tears rolled down her cheeks.

Further, Vekic lost a golden opportunity to win the encounter in the final set after she was leading 6-5 while serving for the match. Eventually, her emotions got out of control as Paolini took full advantage of it to level the set at six games all. Subsequently, in the final set tiebreaker, it was a nerve-wracking battle, with the Italian star eventually handling them better to close out the match. With this, Paolini made it to her maiden Wimbledon final, just a month after making her maiden French Open final.

Like Vekic, emotions also got the better of Paolini, albeit after the match. She reflected on her best time of the career after making it back-to-back final appearances at Grand Slams.

‘Crazy’ times for Jasmine Paolini

The 28-year-old was over the moon after reaching the final of the 2024 Wimbledon Championships. Although her path has been tough, Paolini overcame all odds to be at the best phase of her career. During the post-match interview, she reminisced the sweet success of her victory.

Paolini said, “It was a roller coaster of emotions. These last months have been crazy for me. She was hitting winners everywhere. I was a little bit struggling at the beginning. But I was just repeating to myself to fight [for] every ball.”

Last month, Paolini lost in the final of the French Open against Iga Swiatek tamely. However, with Swiatek already out of the Wimbledon Championships, Paolini will have a realistic chance of winning her maiden Grand Slam title. She will face the winner of the other semifinal between Elena Rybakina and Barbora Krejcikova, which is currently underway.