Jasmine Paolini makes history for Italy with dominant quarter-final victory

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Jasmine Paolini continued to represent Italy at Wimbledon by defeating Emma Navarro in a decisive match to advance to the semi-finals.

The main court was still shocked by Italy's top player and number one in the world, Jannik Sinner, losing to Daniil Medvedev, when Paolini took the stage.

The 28-year-old seventh-ranked player easily defeated American Navarro with a score of 6-2 6-1, making her the first Italian female to reach the semifinals at SW19.

"I'm thrilled to have won on this unique court and I'm so excited to have made it to the semi-finals," she exclaimed.

"It's amazing and surreal to be in this position. As a child, I used to watch finals on this court, so it feels surreal to now be competing here."

Prior to this year, Paolini had never achieved a victory on grass or made it past the second round of a major tournament.

However, she surprised everyone by coming in second place at the French Open last month and is showing that her success was not a one-time thing by being on the verge of reaching another final in just a few weeks.

Navarro has been doing really well recently, beating top players like Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff. She has also won against Paolini in their last three matches.

The New Yorker scored the first point, taking the lead with a break of serve to make it 2-1 in the first set.

However, Paolini, clearly frustrated with herself, quickly turned things around by winning six games in a row. She took the first set and continued to hold her lead at the beginning of the second set.

Navarro was able to stop the bleeding in the following set and started to show off her powerful forehand to earn a break point.

Navarro put up a good fight in the game, but Paolini managed to escape and take control. After that, Navarro didn't have another chance to win.

An impressive win was achieved in just under an hour, setting up a semi-final match against Donna Vekic, who is currently ranked 37th in the world.

Navarro stated that the player she competed against today showed significant improvements compared to their previous matches.

In our past meetings, I continuously took the lead and dominated the points. I was in control from the start of each point and kept control throughout the rallies.

Today, I experienced the complete opposite of that feeling. It seemed like she was dominating me right from the start.