The Italian women had previously lost all four quarterfinals at Wimbledon before Paolini's 58-minute triumph on Center Court, which was also her first victory against Navarro .2, Coco Gauff, in the round of 16.
With an initial break of 2-1, Paolini surged to win 11 of the next 12 games, finishing the match with 19 winners, sixes and 12 unforced errors. She only faced one break point in the first set and saved all three she faced in the second set as she broke Navarro's serve five times in total.
Vekic beats Sun and reaches the semifinals
Donna Vekic of Croatia cruised to a comeback victory to reach the first Grand Slam semi-final of her career, stopping the Cinderella run of qualifier Lulu Sun of New Zealand 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 at Wimbledon on Tuesday. .
In her third Grand Slam quarterfinal and first at Wimbledon, Vekic, world number 37, had to fight hard to overcome Sun, number 123 in the ranking, who was aiming to become the second qualifier to reach the women's singles semifinals at Wimbledon.
Vekic, 28, finally edged out Sun, 23, after 2 hours and 8 minutes of play on Court No. 1, breaking new personal ground in a Grand Slam event by reaching the final four.
In the Open Era (since 1968), only Barbora Strycova (53), Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (52), Elena Likhovtseva (46) and Roberta Vinci (44) had more Grand Slam appearances to reach their first semi-final.
But Vekic, who won her first WTA title a decade ago at age 17, has been an expert on the grass courts. The Croatian has reached five individual finals on grass, including a title at Nottingham 2017. This season, she is now 10-3 on grass, including a final two weeks ago in Bad Homburg.
Vekic's performance also matches her country's best performance at Wimbledon. Vekic is the second woman representing Croatia to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals, after Mirjana Lucic in 1999, 25 years ago.
With an initial break of 2-1, Paolini surged to win 11 of the next 12 games, finishing the match with 19 winners, sixes and 12 unforced errors. She only faced one break point in the first set and saved all three she faced in the second set as she broke Navarro's serve five times in total.
Vekic beats Sun and reaches the semifinals
Donna Vekic of Croatia cruised to a comeback victory to reach the first Grand Slam semi-final of her career, stopping the Cinderella run of qualifier Lulu Sun of New Zealand 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 at Wimbledon on Tuesday. .
In her third Grand Slam quarterfinal and first at Wimbledon, Vekic, world number 37, had to fight hard to overcome Sun, number 123 in the ranking, who was aiming to become the second qualifier to reach the women's singles semifinals at Wimbledon.
Vekic, 28, finally edged out Sun, 23, after 2 hours and 8 minutes of play on Court No. 1, breaking new personal ground in a Grand Slam event by reaching the final four.
In the Open Era (since 1968), only Barbora Strycova (53), Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (52), Elena Likhovtseva (46) and Roberta Vinci (44) had more Grand Slam appearances to reach their first semi-final.
But Vekic, who won her first WTA title a decade ago at age 17, has been an expert on the grass courts. The Croatian has reached five individual finals on grass, including a title at Nottingham 2017. This season, she is now 10-3 on grass, including a final two weeks ago in Bad Homburg.
Vekic's performance also matches her country's best performance at Wimbledon. Vekic is the second woman representing Croatia to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals, after Mirjana Lucic in 1999, 25 years ago.