Barbora Krejcikova, Jasmine Paolini climb into women's Wimbledon final

July 11 (UPI) -- Jasmine Paolini and Barbora Krejcikova clinched spots in the Wimbledon singles final Thursday with semifinal wins, ensuring a different champion at the Grand Slam for the eighth-consecutive year.

They will meet for the title match Saturday at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. Paolini, a 2024 French Open finalist, still is searching for her first major title. Krejcikova is looking to win her second Grand Slam after her 2021 French Open crown.

"It's unbelievable," Krejcikova said on the ESPN broadcast. "It's really tough to explain what I'm feeling right now, but it's a lot of joy, a lot of emotions and also a lot of relief."

Paolini first outlasted No. 37 Donna Vekic of Croatia during a 2-hour, 51-minute thriller -- the longest women's semifinal in the history of Wimbledon.

The No. 7 player in the world converted 3 of 7 break point opportunities and logged 32 unforced errors in the 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(8) victory. Vekic converted 4 of 14 break point chances and totaled 57 unforced errors. She edged Paolini 7-5 in aces and 42-26 in winners.

"She was playing unbelievable, she was hitting winners everywhere," Paolini, the first Italian women's Wimbledon singles finalist, said on the broadcast. "I was struggling at the beginning. I told myself to fight for every ball and try to improve a little bit on the court, because I was serving really bad."

Krejcikova, the No. 32 player from the Czech Republic, converted 4 of 6 break points and totaled just 26 unforced errors in her 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win.

Her favored foe -- No. 4 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan held an 8-4 edge in aces and 38-25 advantage in winners, but totaled 37 unforced errors and converted 3 of 9 break point chances.

Krejcikova and Paolini will meet at 9 a.m. EDT Saturday on ESPN. The men's final will air at 9 a.m. Sunday on ESPN.

No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain will take on No. 5 Daniil Medvedev of Russia in the first men's singles semifinal at 8:30 a.m. Friday on ESPN. No. 2 Novak Djokovic of Serbia will then meet No. 25 Lorenzo Musetti of Italy in the second semifinal.