Written by Richard Pagliaro | @TennisNow | Thursday July 11, 2024
Photo credit: Rob Newall/CameraSport
Wimbledon– Tears flowed This is Donna Vekic's place eyes like a stabbing pain stung his right forearm and legs.
The unbeaten Vekic is two points behind in the Wimbledon final today Jasmine Paolini come in and win 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(8) in a thrilling and historic semi final to advance to his second consecutive Grand Slam final at Wimbledon.
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A brave Vekic broke out in the final set and saved two match points to force a final tiebreaker.
In the tiebreaker, Vekic was leading 8-7 before Paolini served out the last three points in a Wimbledon ladies' singles semi-final that lasted two hours, 51 minutes.
“It was a tough, tough game,” Vekic said afterwards. “I believed I could win until the end. He played amazing tennis. All the best to him. He really deserved it.”
An understandably distraught Vekic broke down in tears on the court and in his post-match presser.
After that, Vekic said that his tears were caused by the severe pain he felt in his arm and legs.
“I thought I was going to die in the third set,” said Vekic. “I had a lot of pain in my arm, in my leg. It wasn't easy on the outside but I will get better.
“I was crying a lot because I was in so much pain, I didn't know how to continue playing.”
Vekic hit 16 more winners (42 to 36), earned double break points (14 to 7), won seven more points in the match (118 to 111), and hit his first serve average of nearly a mile 13 an hour quickly, and beat. back-to-back winners to take an 8-7 lead in the breaker—two points from the biggest win of his career.
Seventh-seeded Paolini refused to let her go any closer to making history as the first Italian woman to reach a Wimbledon singles final.
The physical and emotional toll of playing his fourth consecutive setter, including his fifth in six tournament matches, ended Vekic's crushing defeat.
“My team tells me that I can be proud of myself,” said Vekic. “It's hard right now. It's really hard. I'll definitely need a few days to see everything.
“Yeah, I don't know, it's hard to be optimistic right now. It was so close. I had so many chances.”
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