Jasmine Paolini's breakthrough 2024 season now includes a slice of national history.

The Roland Garros finalist rolled to a 6-2, 6-1 win over No.19 seed Emma Navarro at Wimbledon on Tuesday to reach the semifinals of the grass-court Grand Slam for the first time -- and become the first woman from her country to every reach a Wimbledon semifinal. 

Italian women had previously been 0-4 in Wimbledon quarterfinals before Paolini's 58-minute triumph on Centre Court, which was also her first-ever win against Navarro -- who had upset No.2 seed Coco Gauff in the Round of 16 -- in four tries.

From an early break down at 2-1, Paolini soared to 11 of the next 12 games, ending the match with 19 winners -- more than triple Navarro's six -- as both players hit 12 unforced errors. She only faced the one break point in the first set, and saved all three she faced in the second set, while breaking Navarro's serve five times in total.

Afterwards, an incredulous Paolini could barely believe what she'd just achieved.

"I was watching finals when I was a kid on this court. It's strange to be here and to get the win, and to be in the semifinal in Wimbledon," she said. "I feel so happy."

But a history-making performance for Paolini's home country wasn't the only story in the match.

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She proved that a classic grass-court strategy still works. Paolini's revelatory 2024 season has seen her ascend into the Top 10 in both singles and doubles, and her prowess in the latter was on full display against Navarro -- proving that finishing points at net on the green stuff can still be a winning formula.

She won 16 of 17 points when she came to net, and many came on crucial moments. She broke Navarro back to love in the first set first with a pair of winning volleys: a smash put away cleanly for 0-40, and after pushing Navarro back with a forehand approach, feathered a backhand drop shot into the open court on the next point for 2-2.

She finished the sixth game up at net, too, as a forehand volley finisher gave her a 4-2 lead, and firmly helped establish her runaway momentum in the match.

Is she another Marketa Vondrousova in the making? Last year, the left-handed Czech became the first unseeded woman to win Wimbledon in the Open Era, having entered the tournament with a sub-.500 career record on the surface.

Paolini has the potential to take things a step further: At age 28, she had never won a tour-level main draw match on grass before this year. But after a semifinal showing in Eastbourne, she's now matched that result at the All England Club after three prior first-round exits. 

"Maybe I didn't realize before, but my coach was telling me that I could play well here. I wasn't believing too much," Paolini told reporters. "I felt great also in Eastbourne. I was hitting well the ball on this surface, moving well. I was repeating to myself, Okay, it's nice to play on grass. You can play well.

"I was saying, OK, OK, OK but wasn't believing in that. He was repeating me also before Eastbourne that I could play well on grass. I remember the first days in Eastbourne wasn't easy. You have to adapt. Was coming from clay, as every player.

"Match by match I was feeling good. Yeah, I'm enjoying grass now."

Having never won back-to-back matches in 16 prior Grand Slam appearances, Paolini is now 14-2 (and counting) at majors in 2024.

Serena was the last, but Paolini could be next. After reaching her first Grand Slam final on clay at Roland Garros, Paolini will look to be the first woman to also make the Wimbledon final in the same year since Serena Williams in 2016 when she faces Donna Vekic in Thursday's semifinals. 

Paolini owns a 2-1 head-to-head record against Vekic, though they've only played on hard courts.