Donna Vekic has reached the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam tennis tournament for the first time since 2019 and will play for a place in the semi-finals of the Australian Open against Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus). The 26-year-old Croatian said she was twice on the verge of giving up tennis due to an inability to regain her form, mainly because of back-to-back knee surgeries in two consecutive years.
Donna Vekic underwent the intervention after the 2021 Australian Open when her persistent problems began. She added that after her first-round exit at the US Open, she has given herself time until Wimbledon to rediscover the form that once helped her break into the Top 20.
“I said twice that I was ready to stop playing tennis. But after I said it, I won the tournament in Courmayeur (Italy), and I played really well in San Diego”, said Donna Vekic. The Croatian eliminated the young Czech Linda Fruhvirtova (Czech Republic) by 2-1 (6:2, 1:6, 6:3). “Believe me, I thought that because I wasn’t in shape. I was so far from moving the way I used to on the court. I didn’t trust my knee, I didn’t trust my abilities. I was getting better, but it wasn’t getting realized in my game on the court. But I put myself under pressure and put myself under pressure. It was too hard for me mentally to be at that average level because I know what he was capable of before”, she added.
But the turning point came in San Diego, when she beat several of the top contenders before reaching the final where she was beaten by Iga Swiatek (Poland), the women’s No 1. And when she changed her way of thinking and did not put tennis as the first priority, the quarter-final in Melbourne came.
“This is my 11th appearance at the Australian Open. I’m still 26 years old. But I don’t feel 26 when I get up early in the morning and take my first steps. I put so much effort on myself now, in the first round and then when I step on the court, I feel like I’m frozen. I won the first set, but if you ask me my name, I have to look at the scoreboard to tell you my name. I was completely blocked,” explains Vekic. But he adds that this is how he will go to the quarter-finals as well – without expectations, without pre-setting. And he will hope for a good result again”, said Donna Vekic.
