Wimbledon 2024: Paolini and Krejcikova in the final, twists and more twists on the London roulette wheel | Tennis | Sports

Wimbledon, the box of surprises. It is difficult, very difficult to imagine in advance the final that Jasmine Paolini and Barbora Krejcikova will star in this Saturday. Not for lack of quality, the second of them, an excellent player and champion of Roland Garros three years ago; from there, the border of the quarterfinals in the majors and early falls, first and second rounds. Nor because the Italian is a newcomer to the lineup, given that a month ago she already participated in the outcome in Paris but, until then, secondary in a circuit that has already outlined a new hierarchy – Swiatek, Sabalenka, Gauff and Rybakina clearly above the rest – and in which, even so, she continues without finding a firm governor in London.

Since the start of the decline of Serena Williams, the last dominator, the last to repeat title (2015-2016), round and round. The roulette wheel turns and turns. For the eighth consecutive year, the great British player will register a new champion. The list of winners says: her, Garbiñe Muguruza (2017), Angelique Kerber (2018), Simona Halep (2019), Ashleigh Barty (2021), Elena Rybakina (2022) and Marketa Vondrousova (2023). It will now be Krejcikova or Paolini, more resilient in their respective semi-final duels. Both started against each other, both came back. The Italian recovered against Donna Vekic (2-6, 6-4 and 7-6(8) and the Czech straightened out against Rybakina (3-6, 6-3 and 6-4). Consequently, a highly unpredictable resolution.

Until recently, Paolini, 28, was a player without much significance in the peloton, but she is going through a sweet moment that she has managed to transfer from clay to grass. “I am surprised by everything I am experiencing,” she admits, aware that no player of her nationality has ever managed to reach the top at the All England Club. She will try to do so through this happy present that has allowed her to progress against the odds in London, a terrain of speed and hammers; this is not her case, far from it. About 1.63 meters tall – the shortest in the world top-100— and the sparks she displays on the court, she is now one of the five tennis players who have managed to link the finals of Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the last 25 years, along with Graf, Serena, Venus and Henin.

She is trying to follow in the footsteps of Errani, Vinci, Schiavone and Penetta in her thirties. But, she says, she wants to forge her own path. “I want to write my own story, but I remember the finals they played (Penetta as the last Italian champion, at the US Open in 2015); it is good that the next generations have references,” she said in the conference room, after having beaten Vekic in a match that seemed to go one way and finally went the other way. The 28-year-old Croatian was unable to hold on emotionally in the final stretch of the match and even played the rally in tears.

Rybakina (world number four) was also aiming to beat Krejcikova, but the Kazakh, the champion two years ago, lost her momentum midway through the second set and the Czech – only four individual appearances in the SW19 district, but two titles as a doubles player (2018 and 2022) – is enjoying the meritorious step taken after a long period in the shadows. Torpedoed by injuries, her talent and that sliced ​​backhand that does not admit much comparison are vindicated. And, like Vekic, but for very different reasons, tears. There is the memory of Jana Novotna, winner in 1998 and mentor: “She was my inspiration and told me many stories about her experience here.”

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