Jasmine Paolini is first tennis player of Ghanaian descent to reach Wimbledon final

Ghanaian-Italian tennis star Jasmine Paolini has made history by reaching the final of the 2024 Wimbledon women’s singles.

The 28-year-old was born in Castelnuovo di Garfagnana and has an Italian father, but she also has Ghanaian roots due to her mother being of Polish and Ghanaian descent.

Paolini put up a sensational performance in the semi-finals of the tournament on Thursday, as she came from behind to beat Donna Vekic.

In what was the longest women’s singles semi-final at Wimbledon, lasting two hours and 51 minutes, Paolini won 2-6 6-4 7-6 (10-8).

Jasmine Paolini to face Barbora Krejcikova in Wimbledon final

She has, therefore, now set up a final against Czech 31st seed Barbora Krejcikova, who also defeated Elena Rybakina in the other semi-final game.

“I was serving really bad so I am so happy. This match I will remember forever. I was just trying to think about what to do on the court, point by point, because I was really in difficulty,” Paolini said, as quoted by BBC Sport.

A teary Vekic also rued missing the chance to be in the final and said she was in so much pain during the third set after suffering an injury.

“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 said.

“I was more crying because I had so much pain, I didn’t know how I could keep playing. My team tells me I can be proud of myself. It’s tough right now. It’s really tough to be positive right now. It was so close.”

Meanwhile, this will be Paolini’s second consecutive Grand Slam final after reaching the French Open final a month ago.

The Ghanaian-Italian lost to Iga Swiatek in the French Open but will be aiming to win her first-ever Grand Slam title when she faces Krejcikova on Saturday.