Krejcikova stuns Rybakina to book Wimbledon final

Czech to face Paolini tomorrow alter dace comeback

- ALEX PATTLE

For a while, this was the calm after the storm. After Jasmine Paolini and Donna Vekic ran themselves into the ground in Wimbledon’s longest-ever women’s semi-final, Elena Rybakina looked poised to navigate hers with only the occasional hint of resistance. While Paolini needed two hours and 51 minutes to fight back, reduce Vekic to tears, and position herself on the cusp of glory, Rybakina seemed likely to need about 60 minutes to extinguish Barbora Krejcikova’s dream. And after the Centre Court crowd gorged itself on the melodrama of the first semifinal, it appeared content with watching this encore politely but sleepily.

But those were assumptions, and as this match wore on, it became clear that assuming was a dangerous game. The stands took time to fill up, as yesterday’s second semi-final ticked along, and in that sense, this was not quite the occasion that it could have been at first. Another reason for that was the manner in which the first set played out. Rybakina, the 2022 champion here, was a heavy favourite against Krejcikova, who was competing in a grand slam semi-final for the first time since her triumph at the French Open, three years ago. In fact, the Czech had never passed the fourth round at SW19 until this fortnight.

Still, Centre Court had just seen an underdog victory of sorts, as Paolini – a Duracell bunny of a player – outlasted the more powerful Vekic. “It was tough, she was hitting winners everywhere,” the resolute Italian said on court afterwards, in front of a crowd who had mostly rooted for her throughout. “I was repeating myself to keep fighting. I’m so happy with this win. This match I will remember forever.”