Physically exhausted Jasmine Paolini and emotionally drained Barbora Krejcikova will meet on Wimbledon’s famed Centre Court Saturday afternoon to cap what’s been a gripping ladies draw.
Paolini is gunning for her first major tile while Krejcikova hopes to add a second Grand Slam trophy to her mantle that includes the 2021 French Open singles championship.
The match is set for 9 a.m. EDT/2 p.m. BST and will be televised by ESPN and streamed on WatchESPN and ESPN+. The bookmakers list Krejcikova as a slight favorite.
Paolini, 28, reached her second consecutive Grand Slam final via a grueling, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (10-8) semifinal win over Donna Vekić on Thursday.
The first Italian to ever reach a Wimbledon singles final, Paolini, will surely be running on fumes following that penultimate match which lasted 2 hours and 51 minutes.
While the No. 7-seeded Paolini could be facing a measure of fatigue, Krejcikova will need to find a second win of emotional strength after her 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 seminal final won Thursday over Elena Rybakina.
The 28-year-old Czech fought back tears after that win, saying she couldn’t shake memories of her mentor and friend Jana Novotna, the 1998 Wimbledon singles winner who was just 49 when she died of cancer in 2017.
The No. 31-seeded Krejcikova wiped away tears and told fans after the match: “I just miss her (Novotna) very much, I miss her so much.”
The last American woman left standing at Wimbledon this summer was Emma Navarro, a former University of Virginia star who was knocked out of the quarterfinals by Paolini.
Serena Williams was the last U.S. woman to win the Wimbledon singles title, taking home the Venus Rosewater Dish in 2015 and 2016.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
