Jasmine Paolini reaches second straight Grand Slam final - ESPN

WIMBLEDON, England — 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.

«This match,» said Paolini, a 28-year-old from Italy, «I will remember forever.»

As well will many who were present at Centre Court. 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.

«It was,» she said, «a rollercoaster of emotions.»

Consider: Vekic, making her debut in a Slam semifinal, ended up claiming more points (118-111), delivering more winners (42-26) and breaking serve more often (4-3).

But 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.

Paolini 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.

«These last months have been crazy for me,» Paolini said with a laugh.

On Saturday, she will face Elena Rybakina or Barbora Krejcikova for the championship on Saturday; their semifinal was later Thursday.

Paolini's win was anything but easy for either woman. Vekic often seemed to be in distress, crying between points or while sitting in her changeover chair late in the third set. She iced her right forearm between games or looked up at her guest box with a flushed face.

How surprising has this surge been by Paolini?

She never made it past the second round at any major