Jasmine Paolini and Barbora Krejcikova chasing huge ranking boosts at Wimbledon
Jasmine Paolini and Barbora Krejcikova will battle it out in the Wimbledon final on Saturday and they will also be competing for stunning rises in the WTA Rankings.
The odds on Paolini and Krejcikova meeting in the Wimbledon final would have been huge at the start of the tournament, but they have come through an unpredictable tournament and will get a chance to challenge for the most prestigious title in the women’s game.
Paolini admitted that if anyone had told her two months ago she would be in the Wimbledon final, she would think they were “crazy”.
Paolini, the 28-year-old seventh seed, won a Centre Court classic of a semi-final against Donna Vekic 2-6 6-4 7-6 (10/8) after a nerve-shredding match tie-break.
At two hours and 51 minutes it was the longest women’s semi-final in Wimbledon history, and at the end of it Paolini became the first Italian woman to reach the final, where she will face Barbora Krejcikova.
It is a remarkable run from a player who had not won a Tour-level match on grass until 15 days ago, in Eastbourne, and had lost in the first round in her only previous three visits to SW19.
But this is a woman who, until this year, had never gone beyond the second round of a grand slam and yet, five weeks ago, was in the final of the French Open.
“You are crazy, I would say, yes,” she said. “Yeah, I don’t have words. Just, yeah, you are crazy.
“Two grand slam finals in a row was crazy to believe, I think, no? I’m also surprising how at the moment, until now in this moment, I’m living this.
“I feel maybe Saturday I will be so nervous, I don’t know. But I feel also relaxed. I’m the same person. I’m doing the same things. Yeah, I don’t know. I’m surprised a little bit how I’m managing this.
“I don’t want to say more because maybe Saturday I’m going to be shaking. Yeah, I’m surprising myself to live this with really relaxing mood, you know?”
Paolini is the first woman to reach back-to-back Roland Garros and Wimbledon finals since Serena Williams in 2016.
Meanwhile, Krejcikova complained last year that she was never in the conversation surrounding the top of women’s tennis.
Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina were the reigning grand slam champions, yet Krejcikova had recent wins over all three.
“It’s about Iga, Aryna, and Elena, and I’m not really there,” the 2021 French Open winner moaned in Miami in March 2023.
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Unfortunately, in the intervening 16 months that gripe has looked more and more risible.
Injury and illness have taken their toll as Krejcikova tumbled down the rankings and after a two-month lay-off earlier this year she lost all four of her matches, including a first-round exit at Roland Garros, before arriving on the grass.
But now, as world number 32, Krejcikova beat Rybakina in three tense sets to reach a first Wimbledon final.
“I felt I had to improve everything,” she said. “I think I definitely got better on faster surfaces. I felt 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.”
Both players have already received a huge rankings boost after their Wimbledon heroics, with Paolini backing up her break into the top ten of the rankings for the first time at the French Open by shining at Wimbledon.
She is up to a new career-high ranking of No 5 after reaching the Wimbledon final and will be in that position even if she loses on Saturday.
The rise for Krejcikova is even more remarkable, with the player who was once ranked as high as No 2 bouncing back after she slipped down the rankings in recent months.
Krejcikova is back up to No 14 in the live WTA Rankings and she will break back into the top ten if she is crowned as Wimbledon champion.
