Barbora Krejcikova stunned former champion Elena Rybakina to set up a final against Jasmine Paolini and ensure there will be another unexpected winner at Wimbledon.
Krejcikova, winner of the French Open in 2021 but never previously beyond the fourth round here, fought back from a set down to claim a 3-6 6-3 6-4 victory on Centre Court.
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.
To do so she will have to overcome irrepressible Italian Paolini, who won one of the matches of the tournament against a tearful Donna Vekic in the preceding match to continue her remarkable season.
Krejcikova would have taken heart from having beaten Rybakina in both their previous meetings but both were on hard courts and 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.
But Krejcikova turned the contest around impressively, saying afterwards: "(There's) a lot of joy, a lot emotions. Also a lot of relief and I'm just super proud. I was down, I started 0-4, I was happy that I won the first game. I started to be in the zone and I didn't want to leave the zone."
The 28-year-old then became tearful as she talked about her mentor and former Wimbledon champion Jana Novotna, who died seven years ago.
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, with Krejcikova not holding serve until the eighth game of the match.
There were plenty of errors, too, though from the racket of Rybakina, including a forehand netted from point-blank range on set point, and she dropped serve twice before clinching it.
It gave 28-year-old Krejcikova, whose run here has come as nearly as much of a surprise as her French Open success, something to hold on to, and cling she did in the opening games of the second set.
Rybakina had break points in each of Krejcikova's opening three service games but the Kazakh could not find a way through.
And suddenly the errors were significantly outweighing the winners for Rybakina, while Krejcikova had adjusted to the power and was managing to use her varied game to unsettle her opponent.
The Czech 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.
It was the first time since a second-round meeting with German Laura Siegemund that Rybakina had been pushed to a deciding set, with the Kazakh dropping just 13 games combined in her other four matches.
She regrouped at the beginning of the third but Krejcikova's confidence was high now and she struck in the seventh game, a tame attempt at a drop shot from Rybakina landing in the net on break point.
This time there were no nerves serving it out, the 28-year-old thrusting her hands into the air when Rybakina's final return flew long.
Earlier in the day Paolini, the diminutive Italian who until last week had never won a match at Wimbledon, reached the final after an absorbing victory over Vekic.
The 28-year-old seventh seed edged a semi-final for the ages 2-6 6-4 7-6 (10-8) after a heart-stopping match tie-break.
Unseeded Vekic, also 28 and playing in her first grand slam semi-final, was in tears at times during a deciding set of unimaginable twists and turns.
But it was Paolini's day as a player who, until this year had spent her career bouncing around outside the top 50, backed up her surprise run to the French Open final by making it a bellissimo Wimbledon.
"This match, I will remember forever," the 5'4" Paolini said.
"I was just trying to think abut what to do on the court, point by point, because I was really in difficulty."
Paolini is the first woman to reach back-to-back Roland Garros and Wimbledon finals since Serena Williams in 2016.
"I think these last months have been crazy for me," she added. "I don’t know, I am just trying to focus on what I have to do on court and enjoying what I am doing.
"I love playing tennis. It is a dream. I was watching finals when I was a kid at Wimbledon. I am just enjoying it and trying to live in the present."
Joy for Jasmine ✨
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 11, 2024
Jasmine Paolini wins an absolute classic on Centre Court, defeating Donna Vekic 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(8) to reach the #Wimbledon final pic.twitter.com/c2FC9MzZmY
The pressure was on the Paolini serve from the first game, an eight-minute, five-deuce affair in which she just about held.
But Vekic’s powerful, aggressive returning had Paolini under the cosh and took her a set ahead.
Suddenly the Paolini smile which has lit up a gloomy south-west London this fortnight had disappeared.
When a double fault brought Vekic a break point early in the second, Paolini looked in serious trouble of being on the end of a hiding similar to the one she dished out to Emma Navarro in the quarter-final.
But a stunning, scampering drop shot saved a hold and a spectacular volley in the next had the crowd on its feet.
Vekic was suddenly feeling the heat and, as she served to stay in the set, a double fault gave Paolini the initiative and a forehand winner levelled the match.
The momentum swung again at the start of the decider with Vekic, running her opponent all over the court, grabbing the break.
But Paolini’s defence was driving her opponent to distraction and, with almost every point becoming a mini-drama in itself the woman from Tuscany – who had previously suffered three first-round exits in SW19 – drew level.
With Vekic on serve – and by now in tears – Paolini had a match point but sent her return wide before another marathon game, at 5-5, was decided when Vekic missed by a hair’s breadth.
A backhand which flew long gave Paolini a second match point but Vekic ended another wonderful rally with a winner down the line.
In the match tie-break the pair were matching each other blow for exhausting blow, until Paolini’s third match point was swept wide by the heartbroken Vekic.
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