Vekic mounts comeback to reach maiden Grand Slam semi-final

Donna Vekic ended qualifier Lulu Sun’s fairytale run at Wimbledon, coming back from a set down to win 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 – and write a new chapter of her own career, carving a path into her first-ever Slam semi-final.

In addition, she is only the second Croatian woman to reach such a stage in SW19, following Mirjana Lucic in 1999.

It seemed far off in the close first set when Sun’s flying form continued, and took a wobble even in the second, when Vekic looked nervous serving for the set, with five double faults followed by a poor drop shot handing the break back to Sun.

But Vekic gathered herself to break the Sun serve, take the second set and force a decider.

And after that, it was all Vekic, using her experience and her grass-court credentials to cruise through the third set in just 27 minutes and seal her place in the last four.

Vekic: I’m really proud

“I felt like I was dying out there, the first two sets,” she admitted in her on-court interview, amidst much laughter.

And she added in her press conference: “Reaching my best result ever at a slam, I’m really proud of myself, of the work that I’ve done, of the work that my team has done. I’m very thankful to them for believing in me when I didn’t.”

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