Paolini v Vekic Wimbledon tips & predictions | Thursday, July 11

Wimbledon 2024: Paolini v Vekic best bets

Wimbledon 2024: Paolini v Vekic preview

Two surprising Wimbledon semi-finalists take to the court for the first time on Thursday in London, with Jessica Paolini taking on Donna Vekic for a spot in the final.

Neither registered highly in tennis bookmakers’ odds ahead of the tournament. However, both have put together strong runs and find themselves two matches away from Grand Slam glory.

For Paolini, this is quickly becoming familiar territory. The Italian made the final of the French Open barely a month ago — her deepest run at a major by far.

At Wimbledon, Paolini has been impressive. Her heavy-spinning forehand isn’t naturally designed for grass, but she’s been able to adapt her game to good effect.

Over the past five rounds, the No.7 seed has seen off Sara Sorribes Tormo, Greet Minnen, Bianca Andreescu, Madison Keys and Emma Navarro, for the loss of just one set. She’s looked excellent — particularly against Navarro, who only managed three games against her.

Vekic’s year so far hasn’t been nearly as glimmering as Paolini’s. She came to Wimbledon with a record of 17-14 for the season.

However, the Croatian found form at just the right time, making the final in Bad Homburg ahead of Wimbledon. She’s leveraged this momentum into a strong run in London.

Vekic’s quarter-final berth comes courtesy of wins over Xiyu Wang, Erika Andreeva, Dayana Yastremska, Paula Badosa and Lulu Sun. She’s gone the distance in all but one of these matches.

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Wimbledon 2024: Paolini v Vekic betting predictions

Paolini won’t have too much trouble seeing off Vekic.

The calibre of opponent the Italian has faced over the past 10 days has been significantly higher than Vekic’s, yet she’s made her way to the quarter-finals while dropping far fewer games.

She also has very recent experience at this level, while Vekic is in uncharted waters.

Paolini will take confidence from the fact that the last time these two met, a little under a year ago in Montreal, she won in straight sets. Since then, she has only improved, while Vekic is largely an unchanged product.

Expect Paolini to lean heavily on her net game and continue to play the brand of attacking tennis that has got her this far. Do this, and she will race past Vekic in straight sets.

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