The prestigious Wimbledon Championships at the All England Club continues this week as Jasmine Paolini faces Barbora Krejcikova in a highly-anticipated women’s final. Damien Kayat previews.
2024 WTA Tour – Grand Slam Tennis
Wimbledon Championships
All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club
Selected finals – 13 July
Jasmine Paolini 23/20 | Barbora Krejcikova 67/100
This has been a chaotic year in the women’s draw, providing twists and turns that would make any crime novelist jealous. Every major elimination gave me more confidence of a second Elena Rybakina crown.
But the Kazakh superstar was outdone by a tenacious Barbora Krejcikova (the 2021 French Open champion). The crafty Czech brilliantly diffused the Kazakh’s power in a cunning display of all-court tennis.
Seventh seed Jasmine Paolini showed similar tenacity in her comeback win over Donna Vekic, beating the Croatian in what turned out to be the longest women’s semifinal in Wimbledon history.
The diminutive Italian is in the form of her life as she chases her maiden Grand Slam title.
Jasmine Paolini
Jasmine Paolini has been a revelation this season, reaching a 2nd consecutive Grand Slam final to go with a maiden WTA 1000 title. It’s kind of hard to believe just how much the late bloomer has evolved this campaign.
She became the first Italian woman in history to reach a Wimbledon final with her herculean comeback won over Donna Vekic. Vekic put up the fight of her life in what was one of the most evenly contested semi-finals in living memory.
Playing in front of her parents, Paolini was basically blown away by the hard-hitting Vekic in the opening set. But Paolini grew in stature as the match progressed, using her sublime defensive prowess to frustrate the aggressive Vekic.
Paolini managed to secure the second set and you always felt she had the edge in the third. Vekic was starting to visibly tire and even began crying at one point, almost resigned to the fact that Paolini would outlast her.
Paolini never served at her best in the match, only winning 67% of her first-serve points. That is something that she will have to address when she comes up against returning-machine Krecikova.
But she was defensively solid throughout and her forehand sung when it needed to. Honestly, I don’t know how the rather slight Italian generates so much power on that wing.
Paolini has shown the capacity to win in a multitude of ways these championships. She absolutely dismantled Emma Navarro in her quarterfinal match, and she just showed remarkable resilience to withstand Vekic’s vicious groundstroke onslaught.
Paolini’s semifinal victory also made her just the fourth woman this century to reach back-to-back French Open and Wimbledon finals.
Barbora Krejcikova
Unassuming Czech Barbora Krejcikova has endured a pretty humdrum 2024 campaign, struggling to balance the dual commitments of singles and doubles action. But the gritty Czech just has the ability to suddenly turn it on in major events.
The 2021 French Open champion proved this with a really solid quarterfinal run at this season’s Aussie Open. And she has survived arguably one of the toughest draws imaginable this fortnight.
She barely scraped through her first-round tie, surviving an absolutely nail-biting three-set match with Kudermetova. She later picked up brilliant straight-sets wins against in-form Danielle Collins and the unpredictable Jelena Ostapenko.
And she produced an incredible comeback to take down arguably the most intimidating grass-court player in women’s tennis: Elena Rybakina.
She – like Paolini- was dominated in the opening set of her semifinal clash. Rybakina has looked like the tennis equivalent of the T1000 throughout these championships and I thought she would coast to victory.
But the determined Czech slowly started to get a foothold in the match, utilising her variety of slice and drop-shots to force a smorgasbord of errors from the Rybakina racquet.
The two-time Wimbledon double champion also started to impress in the forecourt, winning 11 out of 15 points when approaching the net. Krejcikova actually matches Paolini for sheer doggedness, chasing lost causes all match long. She is a cerebral player who is able to adjust her game as matches develop.
The Verdict: Krejcikova to win in three sets 33/10
These two have only met on one previous occasion, with Krejcikova winning in 2018 Aussie Open qualifying.
I know, I did say that I wouldn’t underestimate Paolini again in this tournament. But I just think that Krejcikova is trending towards a victory. Matches against Rybakina and Collins should have her well prepared for Paolini’s raw power.
Krejcikova and Paolini both have brilliant defensive capabilities. But I just think that Krejcikova’s expert volleying skills could also give her a slight edge. Paolini wilted against Swiatek in the French Open final and Krecikova has that one Grand Slam victory in the bank.
Still, I do think this has three sets written all over it. Expect plenty of intricate rallies in what should be a magnificent match for the purists.
