Krejcikova, Rybakina, Vekic, Paolini vie for final spots
©Corinne Dubreuil / FFTAnd then they were four! The women’s semi-finals are upon us at Wimbledon and it’s a tale of two halves.
The top half of the draw resulted in a compelling showdown between two Grand Slam champions while the bottom half will see two first-time Wimbledon semi-finalists square off for a shot at a maiden major trophy.
Here’s a breakdown of the two match-ups.
Czech world No.32 Barbora Krejcikova is back in a Grand Slam semi-final for the first time since she won Roland-Garros in 2021, while No.4 seed Elena Rybakina is through to her second Wimbledon semi-final in three years, having lifted the Venus Rosewater Dish at the Championships in 2022.
It is Rybakina’s third appearance in the last-four stage at a major overall, and she is both the highest seed and only former champion left in the draw.
Krejcikova won the doubles title at Wimbledon twice, but had never made it past the fourth round in singles prior to this fortnight.
Road to the final four
Krejcikova has dropped just one set en route to the semis – in a titanic 3+ hour opener – and defeated two top-15 seeds in her last two rounds.
First round: Defeated Veronika Kudermetova 7-6(4), 6-7(1), 7-5 in 3hr 14min
Second round: Defeated Katie Volynets 7-6(6), 7-6(5) in 2hr 2min
Third round: Defeated Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-0, 4-3 ret. in 56 minutes
Fourth round: Defeated Danielle Collins 7-5, 6-3 in 1hr 42min
Quarter-finals: Defeated Jelena Ostapenko 6-4, 7-6(4) in 1hr 40min
Total time on court: 9hr 34min
Rybakina has been rock solid throughout the major of this tournament, breezing through her matches barring one three-setter in the second round against Germany’s Laura Siegemund.
First round: Defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse 6-3, 6-1 in 1hr 11min
Second round: Defeated Laura Siegemund 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in 2hr 12min
Third round: Defeated Caroline Wozniacki 6-0, 6-1 in 57min
Fourth round: Defeated Anna Kalinskaya 6-3, 3-0 ret. in 53min
Quarter-finals: Defeated Elina Svitolina 6-3, 6-2 in 1hr 1min
Total time on court: 6hr 14min
Key stats
Rybakina was broken just six times in 44 service games through five matches. The No.4 seed leads the women’s field with 31 aces struck so far this fortnight.
Head-to-head
This will be their first meeting on grass. Krejcikova won both their previous meetings (both on hard courts), in the Ostrava semi-finals in 2022 and a WTA 500 tournament in Melbourne in 2021. Both of those clashes went the distance.
What the players said
Rybakina on Krejcikova: “She's great player. I think she has really good hands. I didn't really see yet against who she played here. I think she's pretty confident. Also playing doubles here. It's going to be tough match, for sure.”
Rybakina on how she feels compared to 2022, when she won the title: “Back then of course I was not expecting to be that far in the draw. Now with all the experience and with the time which passed of course I come and I want to be in this stage of the tournament. Yeah, just much more experienced player for sure now and know what to do. But there is nerves every time you go on the court. This is still the same, but I think I'm managing much better than before"
Krejcikova: “I’m definitely surprised that I'm in the semi-finals. I didn't have really good season in between Australia and now. I was out. I was ill and injured, this and that. Always coming back and getting ill again. Coming back, getting ill. Going through very tough and difficult moments. Before Wimbledon, I only won two matches, so... Yeah, I didn't really expect to get this far, and I'm really proud of myself for getting this far.”
Krejcikova on Rybakina: “We played couple times. I mean, yeah, she's a great player. She's a former champion here. She knows the court. She knows how to play on grass. She's very dangerous. She has lot of weapons. I'm super happy that I'm in the semis and that I can face her.”
A first-time Grand Slam semi-finalist, who considered taking a break from tennis just a few weeks ago, will take on an affable late-bloomer, who has followed up her runner-up showing at Roland-Garros last month by becoming the first Italian woman to reach the last-four stage at Wimbledon.
Each of these two 28-year-old semi-finalists has provided a feel-good story that is impossible to root against.
Road to the final four
Donna Vekic’s grass-court prowess has been well-documented throughout her career (she has reached five tour-level finals on the surface, including a title triumph at Nottingham in 2017). But it hadn’t yielded more than one second-week appearance at Wimbledon (fourth round in 2018) up until this fortnight.
A former top-20 player currently ranked 37 in the world, Vekic made the final at the WTA grass event in Bad Homburg on the eve of this year’s Championships and battled her way to the first major semi-final of her career with four three-set victories in the five matches she has contested so far.
She is just the second woman representing Croatia to make the final four at Wimbledon and would be the first from her nation to reach the final should she beat Paolini on Thursday.
First round: Defeated Wang Xiyu 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in 1hr 58min
Second round: Defeated Erika Andreeva 6-2, 6-3 in 1hr 32min
Third round: Defeated Dayana Yastremska 7-6(4), 6-7(3), 6-1 in 2hr 54min
Fourth round: Defeated Paula Badosa 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 in 1hr 37min
Quarter-finals: Defeated Lulu Sun 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 in 2hr 6min
Total time on court: 10hr 7min
Jasmine Paolini entered this year’s grass-court season having not won a single tour-level main draw match on the surface throughout her career.
That changed at Eastbourne last month, where she reached the semi-finals, before her impressive run to the last-four stage at Wimbledon.
It is Paolini’s second successive Grand Slam semi-final appearance and she will make her top-five debut on Monday, irrespective of her result against Vekic. The Italian No.7 seed has dropped just one set so far at the All England Club, against Madison Keys, and was flawless in her quarter-final rout of Emma Navarro.
First round: Defeated Sara Sorribes Tormo 7-5, 6-3 in 1hr 37min
Second round: Defeated Greet Minnen 7-6(5), 6-2 in 1hr 32min
Third round: Defeated Bianca Andreescu 7-6(4), 6-1 in 1hr 31min
Fourth round: Defeated Madison Keys 6-3, 6-7(6), 5-5 ret. in 2hr 23min
Quarter-finals: Defeated Emma Navarro 6-2, 6-1 in 57 minutes
Total time on court: 8 hours
Key stats
Vekic has struck 28 aces so far this fortnight, the third-highest in the women’s field behind Rybakina and Lulu Sun. The Croatian has won 80 percent of the points behind her first serve and held serve in 86 percent of her service games.
Paolini has broken her opponents’ serve 28 times this fortnight, and has won 54 percent of her return games.
Both players have been aggressive on their forehand side, with Vekic tallying up 65 forehand winners through five matches, and Paolini right behind her with 61.
Paolini has ventured up to the net more than double the number of times Vekic has, with the Italian winning 92/124 of her net points (74%) compared to 41/59 (69%) for Vekic in that department.
Head-to-head
Paolini and Vekic are 1-1 head-to-head in previous tour-level main draw meetings. Paolini won their most recent meeting in straight sets on hard courts in Montreal last year, while Vekic had the upper hand in Courmayeur in 2021, also on hard courts and also in straights.
What the players said
Paolini on the challenge of facing Vekic: “I think she serves really good and she's fighting every ball. But I'm fighting, too, every ball. I think I'm moving well here. Today I played a really good forehand. It's working good in this tournament, the forehand. Yeah, I hope it's going to help me with Donna. She's serving well. It's important also to return well against her I think, to make her run.”
Paolini on finding her grass form: “Maybe I didn't realise before, but my coach was telling me that I could play well here. I wasn't believing too much. I think also the last two years I played against (Petra) Kvitova first round, so it was tough to believe it. I felt great also in Eastbourne. I was hitting well the ball on this surface, moving well. I was repeating to myself, ‘Okay, it's nice to play on grass. You can play well’. Yeah, I didn't expect to do semi-finals here at all.”
Vekic on Paolini: “She's a great girl. You can always see her smiling. I don't know if anyone is smiling as much as she does on court. She's really played amazing this year, winning Dubai, finals in Roland Garros. I'm really, really happy for her. She's a really nice girl. She's playing great tennis. She's very aggressive. She moves well.”
Vekic’s approach to her maiden Grand Slam semi-final: “I’m just going to try to keep the same routines, try to recover the best I can, get ready for the match, and try not to think that it's semi-finals of Wimbledon. I mean, I'm going to enjoy being on Centre Court. It's the best court in the world. So I'm really going to try to enjoy my time out there.”
ROLAND-GARROS
19 May - 8 June 2025
