Jasmine Paolini booked her place in the Wimbledon final after winning a Centre Court classic semi-final against Donna Vekic 2-6 6-4 7-6 (10/8). She will meet Barbora Krejcikova who triumphed over former champion Elena Rybakina 3-6 6-3 6-4.
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.
Williams lost in Paris – just as Paolini did against Iga Swiatek – but then lifted the Venus Rosewater Dish after beating Angelique Kerber.
Unseeded Vekic, also 28, was playing in her first grand slam semi-final and was in tears at times during a deciding set of unimaginable twists and turns.
She led by a break in the deciding set and had further break points on the Paolini serve at 5-5.
But it was Paolini who took her third match point, and the first of the tie-break, to leave Vekic heartbroken.
"I thought I was going to die in the third set," said the Croatian. "I had so much pain in my arm, in my leg. It was not easy out there, but I will recover.
"I was more crying because I had so much pain, I didn't know how I could keep playing."
Vekic, who came close to quitting tennis just six weeks ago, such was her disenchantment with the sport, added: "My team tells me that I can be proud of myself.
"But it's tough right now. 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."
Meanwhile, Krejcikova was inspired by the memory of her mentor Jana Novotna as she battled back to Rybakina and reach her first Wimbledon singles final.
Krejcikova, winner of the French Open in 2021 but never previously beyond the fourth round here, claimed a 3-6 6-3 6-4 victory on Centre Court to set up a surprise final against Paolini.
She will now hope to follow in the footsteps of her fellow Czech Marketa Vondrousova, who became the first unseeded winner of the women's singles here 12 months ago, while Rybakina's defeat guarantees an eighth different champion in eight years.
Novotna famously cried on the shoulder of the Duchess of Kent after losing the 1993 final against Steffi Graf from a winning position before finally lifting the trophy five years later.
She took a teenage Krejcikova under her wing but died of cancer in 2017 aged only 49.
Krejcikova became emotional when taking about Novotna in her post-match interview, saying: "I'm thinking about Jana a lot. I have so many beautiful memories and, when I step on the court here, I'm just fighting for every single ball because that's what I think she would want me to do.
"We talked about her matches here. It's been some while so I can't really tell you what it was about. But we definitely did. I hope she would be proud."
Krejcikova would have taken heart from beating Rybakina in both their previous meetings but they were on hard courts and initially it looked like the Kazakh, champion two years ago and winner of 19 of her 21 matches at Wimbledon before this one, would continue her grass-court dominance.
After the emotional drama of the first semi-final, which the crowd lived with both players, it was no surprise that Rybakina and Krejcikova walked out to a mostly empty stadium as fans took a break.
The flat atmosphere was reflected on the court, with the contest distinctly lacking in any rhythm.
Much of that was due to the ice-cold demeanour and clinical striking from Rybakina, whose power was simply too much for Krejcikova to cope with in the opening set.
The fourth seed quickly opened up a 4-0 lead but she became more error prone thereafter and there were signs before she clinched the set that the tide could turn.
Rybakina had break points in each of Krejcikova's opening three service games but the 28-year-old Czech clung on and slowly began to impose her varied game, honed in a hugely successful doubles career, on her opponent.
Krejcikova clenched her fist and roared when she broke Rybakina to lead 4-2 before surviving a wobble serving for the set, taking her sixth chance after being up 40-0 then twice double-faulting.
Rybakina regrouped at the beginning of the decider but Krejcikova's confidence was high now and she struck in the seventh game before serving out one of the biggest victories of her life to love.
Rybakina, who had been a heavy title favourite, was philosophical afterwards, saying: "It was a very close match. Of course, a pity to lose. I think Barbora played really well. I had some chances but, anyway, I think it's a positive tournament for me.
"I've been playing pretty well the 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."
