Only four players remain in the bottom half of the women’s singles draw at Wimbledon: Jasmine Paolini, Emma Navarro, Donna Vekic, and Lulu Sun. One will play in the final at the All-England Club on Saturday afternoon. What happened to everyone else? No. 3 seed Aryna Sabalenka, who was the odds-on title favorite going into the tournament, withdrew prior to her first-round match because of a shoulder injury. No. 2 seed Coco Gauff lost to Navarro on Sunday night. No. 8 seed and Australian Open runner-up Qinwen Zheng was bounced in the opening round by Sun. No. 9 seed Maria Sakkari lost to Emma Raducanu, who promptly lost to Sun. No. 12 seed Madison Keys was one game away from reaching the quarterfinals only to suffer a hamstring injury and retire at 5-5 in the third set of her match against Paolini. Meet the quarterfinalists:
Jasmine Paolini – The 28-year-old was runner-up at the French Open to Iga Swiatek and she also won a 1000-point title in Dubai earlier this season. Still, on grass this is a very surprising run to the quarterfinals. The seventh-ranked Italian was 6-13 all time on grass prior to 2024.
Emma Navarro – The former University of Virginia standout has also made a significant breakthrough this year, with a 40-15 match record that includes a title in Hobart. She is 14-5 lifetime on grass (all in the past two seasons). Navarro’s Wimbledon run features defeats of both Gauff (fourth round) and Naomi Osaka (second round).
Donna Vekic – On the pro tour since 2012, Vekic has not been higher than 19th in the rankings and has never advanced to a Grand Slam semifinal (this is her third quarterfinal appearance–first at Wimbledon). A force on grass, the 28-year-old Croat has played in five WTA grass-court finals (one title, Nottingham 2017).
Lulu Sun – Ranked No. 123, Sun had to qualify to get into the main draw (and was down a match point in the second round of qualies!). Prior to this season, the 23-year-old New Zealander had won a total of four matches at the WTA level. She played one season of college tennis at the University of Texas (2020-21) and won the national championship-clinching match.
On Tuesday it will be Paolini vs. Navarro and Vekic vs. Sun. “I don’t know a lot about her,” Vekic admitted. “I think the coaching team will be studying all night to try to get ready for the match on Tuesday. No one makes the quarterfinals of Wimbledon by accident. She’s obviously playing great tennis. It will be a tough match.” And the stakes could not be higher in either match. We are only in the quarterfinals, and a surprising Wimbledon finalist is already guaranteed.
