Donna Vekic is a Croatian professional tennis player, who achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No 19. She has won five singles titles on the WTA Tour and five singles titles on the ITF Circuit.
Donna Vekic was born on June 28, 1996, in Osijek, Croatia. She started in tennis as a kid and showed her great talent. She reached the Junior Orange Bowl semi-finals in 2008 and won the titles at the 2009 Zain Bahrain ITF Juniors Championships, 2011 Riaan Venter Junior ITF, and 2011 Kolkata ITF Juniors.
Donna Vekic made her professional debut already in 2010, playing at the $10,000 Osijek (Croatia) and $25,000 W25 Zagreb (Croatia), losing in the first round.
In 2011, Donna Vekic reached her first ITF final, finishing as a runner-up at the $10,000 Hvar (Croatia). In July, she won her first title at the $10,000 Chiswick (UK). By the end of the season she was the runner-up at the $15,000 Westende (Belgium) and $25,000 W25 Lagos (Nigeria).
Donna Vekic made her WTA debut in 2012 and finished a runner-up at the WTA 250 Tashkent Open. During the season she won the titles at the $25,000 Bangalore (India) and $25,000 W25 Fergana (Uzbekistan), finished as the runner-up at the $25,000 W25 Namangan (Uzbekistan), $25,000 Campos Do Jordao (Brazil), and $25,000 Wrexham (UK), as well as reached the quarter-finals of the WTA 125 The Royal Indian Open.
In 2013, Donna Vekic debuted in the Grad Slam tournaments, playing in the main scheme of the Australian Open and reached the second round. She also reached the second round of the Masters’ tournament WTA 1000 Miami Open, before winning her fourth ITF title at the $50,000 Istanbul (Turkey). In June, Donna Vekic played her second WTA final at the WTA 250 Rothesay Classic Birmingham but lost to Daniela Hantuchova in straight sets. By the end of the season, the Croatian tennis player reached the second round of the US Open and the quarter-finals of the WTA 250 Baku Cup. Following the good season she entered into the world’s Top 100.
In 2014, Donna Vekic won her first WTA title at the WTA 250 BMW Malaysian Open. During the season she reached the third round of the WTA 1000 Miami Open and the second round of the WTA 1000 Indian Wells Open. She finished the season as the world’s No 82.
In 2015, Donna Vekic did not start well in the WTA season, and turned back to the ITF, reaching the quarter-finals of the $60,000 Istanbul (Turkey). At the French Open / Roland Garros, she reached the third round, while at the WTA 250 Baku Cup played in the quarter-finals. Donna Vekic played another WTA final at the WTA 250 Tashkent Open but lost it to Nao Hibino. At the end of the season, she reached the quarter-finals of the $100,000 Poitiers (France) and WTA 125 Open BLS De Limoges.
Donna Vekic made a hesitant start to the 2016 season, losing in the first round of the WTA 250 Shenzhen Open and Australian Open, and reaching the second rounds of the WTA 250 Taiwan Open and WTA 1000 Qatar TotalEnergies Open. In March, the Croatian tennis player reached the quarter-finals of the WTA 125 San Antonio Open, while in September played in the final of the $100,000 Saint-Petersburg (Russia), but lost to Natalia Vikhlyantseva. In October, she won her fifth ITF title at the $100,000 Sharm El Sheikh (Egypt), while at the end of the season reached the quarter-finals of the WTA 125 Open BLS De Limoges.
In 2017, Donna Vekic started the season slowly, reaching the second rounds of the Australian Open, WTA 500 St Petersburg Ladies Trophy, WTA 250 Hungarian Ladies Open, and WTA 1000 Indian Wells Open. In June she won her second WTA title at the WTA 250 Rothesay Open Nottingham. Later during the season, she reached the second round of Wimbledon and the third round of the US Open. She returned to the world’s Top 100 and finished the season as the world’s No 54.
Donna Vekic had a very good season in 2018. She started by reaching the quarter-finals of the WTA 250 Hobart International and the second round of the Australian Open. In March, she reached the third round of the WTA 1000 Miami Open, while during the summer she reached the semi-finals of the WTA 250 Rothesay Open Nottingham, the fourth round of Wimbledon, and became the runner-up at the WTA 250 Mubadala Citi DC Open. By the end of the season, Donna Vekic reached the semi-finals of the WTA 500 Toray Pan Pacific Open Tennis, the quarter-finals of the WTA 250 BGL BNP Paribas Luxembourg Open, and the third round of the WTA 1000 China Open. Thus, the Croatian tennis player climbed to the world’s No 34.
In 2019, Donna Vekic kept her impetus and continued with her great performance. She reached the semi-finals of the WTA 500 Brisbane International and the final of the WTA 500 St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy. She continued by reaching the quarter-finals of the WTA 250 Abierto Mexicano TELCEL Presentado Por HSBC and WTA 250 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, as well as the third round of the WTA 1000 Madrid Open. At the French Open / Roland Garros Donna Vekic reached the fourth round, while at the WTA 250 Rothesay Open Nottingham reached the final, losing to Caroline Garcia. She continued her strong performance by reaching the semi-finals of the WTA 500 Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic, the third round of the WTA 1000 Western & Southern Open, but her biggest success during the season was the quarter-finals of the US Open. Thus, she climbed to the world’s No 19.
In 2020, Donna Vekic lost her pace and the short season seriously helped to this. She reached the third round of the WTA 500 Adelaide International, Australian Open, and the US Open, but failed to record some significant achievement.
In 2021, the Croatian tennis player reached the fourth round of the Australian Open and the quarter-finals of the WTA 250 Rothesay Classic Birmingham. She played at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics but lost in the Round of 16. At the end of the season, she won her third WTA title at the WTA 250 Courmayeur Ladies Open.
In 2022, Donna Vekic made a terrible start of the season followed by injuries. She returned to the French Open / Roland Garros, reaching the second round, while in June played in the quarter-finals of the WTA 250 Rothesay Classic Birmingham. Despite the relatively weak season, she finished it classy, by winning the title at the WTA 250 Cymbiotika San Diego Open and reaching the quarter-finals of the WTA 250 Tallinn Open.
In 2023, Donna Vekic returned in form and made another great start to the season, reaching the quarter-finals of the Australian Open and WTA 250 Upper Austria Ladies Linz. In February she won the title at the WTA 250 Abierto GNP Seguros, while in May reached the third round of the WTA 1000 Rome Open. Later during the season, she played another WTA final at the WTA 500 German Open, losing to Petra Kvitova, the third round of Wimbledon and WTA 1000 Western & Southern Open.
Donna Vekic photos
