Aussie tennis fans shattered over the withdrawal of Alex de Minaur have been given something to cheer for, with Jordan Thompson and Max Purcell making the doubles final on a day of drama at Wimbledon. The Aussie pairing stunned top-seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 6-4 6-4 to book an unexpected place in the final at the All England Club.

It came as the first of a number of major shocks on Thursday at Wimbledon, with the women’s singles semi-finals producing massive drama. Jasmine Paolini became the first Italian woman to reach the Wimbledon singles final after coming back to beat a bawling Donna Vekic, before Barbora Krejcikova stunned former champion Elena Rybakina.

Paolini won 2-6 6-4 7-6 (10-8) in the longest women’s semi-final at the All England Club ever. Paolini and Vekic were both in unchartered territory, with Vekic playing her first semi-final at a major and Paolini having never won a match on grass before this year.

And it showed for both, with Vekic breaking down in tears during a pressure-packed third set. The Croatian took the opening set comfortably with two breaks of Paolini’s serve, but the Italian was more aggressive in the second.

The pair racked up a plethora of unforced errors in the decider amid a number of breaks of serve, and Vekic’s emotions got the better of her. The Croatian couldn’t hold back her tears – even before the match had ended – and she also broke down as she left the court after the loss.

In contrast, Paolini looked focused and energised at the end of the two-hour, 51-minute match. “These last months have been crazy for me,” said the 28-year-old, who also made the French Open final last month. “I am trying to focus on what I have to do on court and I love playing tennis. It is amazing to be here and it is a dream. It was an intense match and I tried to play my best and now it’s time to recover. I need an ice bath as my legs are a little bit tired.”

Vekic later said: “It was a tough, tough match. I thought I was going to die in the third set. I had so much pain in my arm, in my leg. I was more crying because I had so much pain, I didn’t know how I could keep playing.”

Krejcikova was also in tears after beating Rybakina, but they were tears of joy. The 2021 French Open champion prevailed 3-6 6-3 6-4 as Centre Court fans were treated to a pair of roller-coaster encounters.

“(There’s) a lot of joy, a lot emotions,” she said. “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.”

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Jordan Thompson and Max Purcell in Wimbledon doubles final

As for Thompson and Purcell, they will face Henry Patten and Harri Heliovaara in the doubles final. Patten and Heliovarra are unseeded but defeated experienced Queen’s Club champions Neal Skupski and New Zealander Michael Venus 6-4 7-6 (7-1) in their semi.

“I feel we were never in doubt today,” Purcell said. “We came out playing really well (and) felt really comfortable out there. Nothing to take away from them, they’re great players. I just felt like we were on and when we’re on, we’re really tough to beat.”

Purcell has now reached four doubles finals at grand slam level. He won the Wimbledon title with Matt Ebden in 2022 and is a two-time finalist at the Australian Open – 2020 with Luke Saville and 2022 with Ebden.

Thompson is into his first grand slam doubles final. “One of our goals is to win a slam,” Thompson said. “To be in a grand slam final, I think it’s probably the most special that it’s at Wimbledon.”