By Tony Fairbairn at Wimbledon
- Jasmine Paolini spoke about leading the current Italian generation as she reached her maiden Wimbledon final
- Barbora Krejcikova looked back on Jana Novotna’s legacy after reaching second Grand Slam final
- An emotional Donna Vekic reflected on semi-final heartbreak at Wimbledon
LONDON, ENGLAND – Jasmine Paolini reflected on leading the current Italian generation of players after reaching a maiden Wimbledon final.
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Paolini aiming to inspire next generation after reaching maiden Wimbledon final
The day eleven talking points start with the first semi-final as Jasmine Paolini reached her first Wimbledon final.
It was an incredibly dramatic contest against Donna Vekic which saw the Italian win the last set tiebreak 10-8 and secure a second consecutive Grand Slam final after reaching the final at Roland Garros.
Speaking after a dramatic contest Paolini said that it’s crazy that she’s reached two consecutive Grand Slam finals.
“I’m feeling amazing. Today has been a really, really tough match. So emotional match,” Paolini opened her press conference by saying.
“No, I don’t know. You are crazy, I would say, yes. Yeah, I don’t have words. Just, yeah, you are crazy I would say.”
Paolini is the first female player since Serena Williams in 2016 to reach Roland Garros and Wimbledon finals back-to-back as she battled her way past Vekic.
It’s been an incredible year for Italian tennis with Jannik Sinner’s leading him to world number one while Lorenzo Musetti is competing in the semi-finals tomorrow.
The Italian is happy to be leading the current generation after previous Italian success but has said that she is ready to write her own story now.
“Yeah, they inspiring me so much. But I don’t want to compare too much because I’m writing my own story, my own career,” Paolini explained.
“But I remember the Grand Slam finals that they made. I think it’s really important for also the next generation having people that can do great things. They can show you that it’s possible. That’s really important I think. Of course, I’m grateful to them, yeah.
“No, it’s great to do good in Wimbledon. Yeah, Lorenzo is a really nice guy. I’m so happy for him. Tomorrow, for sure, I’m going to watch some tennis. Yeah, he has a huge talent. I think really good person. Hopefully he can play a good match.
“I don’t know. I think now we are many Italians doing great things. I think we are inspiring each other, no? Also, I have to say in Italy there are many, many tournaments, like challengers, ITF, juniors. I think every player shows that something can be possible. Jannik is showing that. In Italy now it’s normal to have Jannik No. 1. Normal, no, but he’s doing unbelievable things.
“I think he lost three matches this year, so it’s unbelievable to have him in that position. I think it help all the movement behind, no? Now we have many, many players that are doing really, really well, apart Sinner, of course.”
Vekic reflects on defeat after emotional press conference
However it was heartbreak for Vekic who started the match in impressive fashion but just couldn’t hold her nerve in the important moments.
The weight of the moment got the best of the Croatian as she was crying at 6-5 down in the decider as her first Grand Slam semi-final ended in defeat.
In an emotional and short press conference Vekic tried her best to sum up how she is feeling after a painful loss.
“It was a tough, tough match. I believed that I could win until the end,” Vekic stated.
“She played some amazing tennis. All congrats to her. She definitely deserved it. I mean, I thought I was going to die in the third set. I had so much pain in my arm, in my leg. It was not easy out there, but I will recover.
“She’s moving really well. She’s aggressive. You gave a short ball, and yeah, you just have to keep going. I mean, she doesn’t have the best serve, but she’s serving well enough. Yeah, I felt like also in the third set she was really returning well.”
Despite a painful loss, Vekic will now move up to 21 in the world after reaching a first Grand Slam semi-final.
The Croatian said that her team has told her to be positive but ultimately that is a very tough thing to do at the moment.
“My team tells me that I can be proud of myself. It’s tough right now,” Vekic said.
“It’s really tough. For sure I will need to take couple of days to see everything. Yeah, I don’t know, it’s tough to be positive right now. It was so close. I had a lot of chances.”
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Krejcikova talks about Jana Novotna’s legacy after semi-final victory
The second semi-final saw Barbora Krejcikova reach her second Grand Slam victory after a three set win over former champion Elena Rybakina.
Brave and resilient tennis saw Krejcikova reach her first Wimbledon final and after the match described how much she’s improved on faster surfaces.
“Well, I feel I had to improve everything. I think I definitely got better on faster surfaces,” Krejcikova revealed in her press conference.
“I feel like I had to develop my game because everybody else is developing their game, too. I mean, it’s great that it looks like I made some progress, that I’m in another final.”
It’s a second Grand Slam final for Krejcikova after she claimed her first Grand Slam title in 2021 at Roland Garros.
However the 31st seed got emotional after the match as she remembered the late Jana Novotna.
Novotna won multiple Grand Slam doubles titles and claimed the singles title at Wimbledon in 1998.
The Czech Republican was a huge mentor to Krejcikova and the Roland Garros champion spoke about Novotna’s influence and described some of her idols that inspired her to Grand Slam success.
“Well, we talked about it, I mean, about her matches here. But also, it’s been some while since we talk about it, so I can’t really tell you what it was about. But we definitely did. Yeah, I mean, I hope she would be proud,” Krejcikova emotionally told reporters.
“After my juniors career, it was a lot about Jana because I had an opportunity to meet her and to spend time with her and see, like, how she behaves, who she is, how such a big champion she is.
“Well, I mean, we have a huge tennis history in Czech Republic at the Wimbledon, but also at any other majors. I mean, when I was growing up, I had a lot of players that I could look up to. I mean, it’s great that right now I’m also a slam champion and I’m in a finals of Wimbledon.
“I mean, we had many players. There have been so many. Petra Kvitova playing, Safarova, playing. Hradecka, Bara Strycova. We had so many players. I mean, I grew up watching Fed Cup being in O2 Arena and Prague in Czech Republic, watching many finals. Everybody that was on the team was a player that I was kind of like looking up to.”
Rybakina takes positives from Wimbledon campaign
Meanwhile it’s semi-final defeat for Rybakina who lost from a set up and seemingly had control of the match.
Too many unforced errors cost the Kazakh the match as she couldn’t reach a second Wimbledon final.
However, given the amount of setbacks she’s had this season Rybakina is taking the positives from the last two weeks as she heads to the Olympics.
“Well, yeah, it was very close match. Of course, pity to lose. I think Barbora played really well. I had some chances, but anyway, I think it’s a positive tournament for me,” Rybakina said in her press conference.
“Well, definitely it’s pity to lose the match, being so close to the final. But, as I said before, I think overall it was positive two weeks for me. I’ve been playing pretty well last four matches, so I’m happy with the level I am now and also how I felt physically on the court. In the last few months I was struggling a little bit. I’m just trying to take only positive from these two weeks.”
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