LONDON (AP) — Jasmine Paolini reached her second consecutive Grand Slam final with a 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (10-8) victory over unseeded Donna Vekic at Wimbledon on Thursday in a rollicking match that lasted 2 hours, 51 minutes.
Paolini kept coming back, coming back, coming back — after dropping the opening set, after being two games from defeat at 4-all in the second, after twice trailing by a break in the third at 3-1 and 4-3 at Centre Court.
But the No. 7-seeded Paolini never went away, eventually converting her third match point. This showing on the grass courts of the All England Club follows her runner-up finish to Iga Swiatek on the red clay at Roland Garros last month.
The 28-year-old Italian is the first woman to get to the title matches at the French Open and Wimbledon in the same season since Serena Williams in 2015 and 2016.
Paolini will face Elena Rybakina or Barbora Krejcikova for the championship on Saturday.
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
