LONDON – Donna Vekic persevered to win the biggest match of her career.
The 28-year-old Croatian, hampered in recent years by injuries, reached her first Grand Slam semi-final in her 43rd appearance at a major tournament by defeating qualifier Lulu Sun 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 in Wimbledon on Tuesday.
“I felt like I was dying there, in the first two sets. But I continued, hoping to have a chance and it ended up happening”, said Vekic in an interview on the court.
Vekic becomes the second woman representing Croatia to reach the All England Club semi-finals, after Mirjana Lucic in 1999.
Sun, 23, who played college tennis at the University of Texas, was making her grass-court debut and is the first New Zealand player to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals in the Open era.
“It was a very difficult match, she played unbelievably,” said Vekic, who had knee surgery in 2021. “She really pushed me to my limit.”
Next, she will play #7, Jasmine Paolini, or #19, Emma Navarro.
Serving for the second set at 5-3, Vekic committed five double faults to help Sun break, but Vekic fought back to force a deciding set, which the veteran player dominated.
On Center Court, No. 1 Jannik Sinner was facing No. 5 Daniil Medvedev in a rematch of the Australian Open finalwhich Sinner won in five sets for his first Grand Slam title.
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