London, ENGLAND – Team Yonex star Jasmine Paolini (ITA) won‘t ever forget the day she reached her first Wimbledon final.

It was, as the Italian told the Centre Court crowd, “a rollercoaster of emotions”, with the Italian needing almost three hours to beat Donna Vekic (CRO) in an all-Yonex showdown that was the longest semi-final in the history of the women’s singles. This thriller will be as memorable for many on Centre Court as it was for Paolini, who has now made the final of the last two majors, after a breakthrough run on the clay of Roland-Garros last month.

Here was a 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(8) victory that established Paolini – with all her bounce and energy and smiles – as a new crowd favorite in London while also taking her through to Saturday’s final. While Paolini is always a joyful figure on a tennis court, and has smiled all the way through this fortnight, she has probably never looked happier than in the moments after this match and she might look even happier still if she can keep this going at the weekend. If she wins Wimbledon, Paolini might never stop smiling.

Coming into this fortnight, the 28-year-old hadn’t even won a match on the grass of the All England Club. But now she is potentially just two sets away from becoming the first Italian woman in history to lift the Venus Rosewater Dish, and also becoming the third Team Yonex star in a row to win Wimbledon after Elena Rybakina (KAZ) in 2022 and Marketa Vondrousova (CZE) last year. When the season began, Paolini hadn’t even gone beyond the second round at any of the majors but then she made the fourth round of the Australian Open and has gone deep in Paris and London and turned herself into a global star at the top of the women’s game.

Centre Court at Wimbledon, the grandest stage in tennis, felt like a showcase for Team Yonex talent, as three of the four semi-finalists were playing with VCORE racquets, including Rybakina, who lost in three sets to Barbora Krejcikova.

Jasmine Paolini (ITA) | VCORE 100 [LINK] / POLYTOUR PRO 120 [LINK]

Elena Rybakina (KAZ) | VCORE 100 [LINK] / POLYTOUR FIRE 125 [LINK] / ECLIPSION [LINK] / APPAREL [LINK]