Donna Vekić (; born 28 June 1996) is a Croatian professional

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player. She achieved a career-high singles

ranking A ranking is a relationship between a set of items, often recorded in a list, such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than", or "ranked equal to" the second. In mathematics, this is known as a weak ...

of world No. 17 on 27 January 2025. Her best performance at a

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

is reaching the semifinals at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships. Vekić is also an Olympic silver medalist, in singles at the

2024 Paris Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

. Vekić has won four singles titles on the

WTA Tour The WTA Tour (also known as the Hologic WTA Tour for sponsorship reasons) is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women and organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125 series, and third-tier is the ITF Wome ...

– at the 2014 Malaysian Open, at the 2017 Nottingham Open, the 2021 Courmayeur Ladies Open, and the 2023 Monterrey Open. She has also won five titles in singles and one doubles title on the ITF Circuit.

Early life

Vekić was born in

Osijek Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...

to father Igor and mother Brankica. Her father was a goalkeeper for

NK Osijek Nogometni klub Osijek (), commonly referred to as NK Osijek (), is a Croatian professional association football, football sports club, club from Osijek. Founded in 1947, it was the club from Slavonia with the most seasons in the Yugoslav First Le ...

. She has a brother, Bruno. She began playing tennis at the age of six, and trained at the

IMG Academy IMG Academy is a University-preparatory school, preparatory boarding school and sports training destination in Bradenton, Florida, United States. The organization is set across over 600 acres (243 ha) and features programs consisting of sport ca ...

from the age of nine.

Career

2012: First WTA Tour final

Vekić is a member of the Croatia Fed Cup team. In February 2012, she played three rubbers at the tournament, including helping her country to a 2–0 win over

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

. At the

Tashkent Open The Tashkent Open by Zeromax was a women's tennis tournament held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, ...

, Vekić made it to her first final on the

. It was her first main-draw appearance there, and she was the youngest player in six years to make it to the final of such an event. However, she was defeated by

Irina-Camelia Begu Irina-Camelia Begu (born 26 August 1990) is a Romanian tennis player. She reached a career-high WTA ranking, WTA singles ranking of world No. 22 , in August 2016. Two years later, she reached her highest ranking in doubles, also No. 22. She is ...

in straight sets.

2013: Top 100 debut

Vekić started her year off by entering the main draw of the

Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...

and defeated

Andrea Hlaváčková Andrea is a given name which is common worldwide for both males and females, cognate to Andreas, Andrej and Andrew. Origin of the name The name derives from the Greek word ἀνήρ (''anēr''), genitive ἀνδρός (''andrós''), that ...

in the first round. In the second, she fell to the tenth seed and former world No. 1,

Caroline Wozniacki Caroline Wozniacki (; born 11 July 1990) is an inactive Danish professional tennis player. She has been ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA, hold ...

, in straight sets. Vekić qualified (seeded 16th) for the main draw of the Miami Open by defeating Marta Sirotkina and Valeria Savinykh. In the first round, she beat fellow qualifier

Yulia Putintseva Yulia Antonovna Putintseva (, ; born 7 January 1995) is a Russian-born Kazakhstani professional tennis player. She achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 20 on 27 January 2025 and a doubles ranking of No. 76 on 17 March 2025. Puti ...

. In the second, she lost to 29th seed

Elena Vesnina Elena Sergeyevna Vesnina (born 1 August 1986) is a Russian former professional tennis player who was List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles. Vesnina is a four-time Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam champion, h ...

. At the Monterrey Open, she defeated Julia Cohen in the first round. In the second round, she lost to seventh seed

Urszula Radwańska Urszula Radwańska (; born 7 December 1990) is a Polish professional tennis player. Radwańska has won one doubles title on the WTA Tour, as well as seven singles and eleven doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 8 October 2012, she reac ...

. Vekić won the $50k tournament in Istanbul, defeating Elizaveta Kulichkova in the final. Vekic ended the 2013 season ranked No. 86, her first top-100 season.

2014: First WTA Tour title

Vekić began 2014 season at the Shenzhen Open where she lost in the first round to third seed Klára Zakopalová. At the

, she was defeated in the first round by qualifier

Lucie Hradecká Lucie Hradecká (; born 21 May 1985) is a Czech former professional tennis player. A three-time Grand Slam doubles champion and 26-time WTA Tour doubles titlist, she reached her career-high doubles ranking of world No. 4 in October 2012. She w ...

. In Thailand at the Pattaya Open, she lost in the first round to top seed Sabine Lisicki. At the Brasil Tennis Cup, Vekić was defeated in the first round by third seed and eventual champion, Klára Zakopalová. In March, she was awarded a wild card for the Indian Wells Open where she lost in the second round to 12th seed

Dominika Cibulková Dominika Cibulková (; born 6 May 1989) is a Slovak former professional tennis player. She is the 2016 WTA Finals champion, becoming the fourth player (after Serena Williams in 2001 WTA Tour Championships, 2001, Maria Sharapova in 2004 WTA Tour ...

. At the Miami Open in Key Biscayne, Vekić came through qualifying with wins over

Alla Kudryavtseva Alla Alexandrovna Kudryavtseva (; born 3 November 1987) is a retired Russian tennis player. Kudryavtseva won one singles title and nine doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as two singles titles and 15 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circ ...

and

Johanna Larsson Johanna Larsson (; born 17 August 1988) is a Swedish former tennis player. In her career, she won two singles and 14 doubles titles on the WTA Tour, with 13 singles and 17 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. Her career-high WTA rankin ...

. In the main draw, she upset 28th seed

Svetlana Kuznetsova Svetlana Aleksandrovna Kuznetsova (born 27 June 1985) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as high as world No. 2 in singles and world No. 3 in doubles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA. Kuznetsova won 18 singl ...

in the second round. She was defeated in the third round by eighth seed

Petra Kvitová Petra Kvitová (; born 8 March 1990) is a Czech professional tennis player. Known for her powerful left-handed groundstrokes and variety, Kvitová has won 31 career singles titles, including two Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major titles ...

. At the Monterrey Open, Vekić beat fifth seed

Garbiñe Muguruza Garbiñe Muguruza Blanco (; born 8 October 1993) is a Venezuelan-born Spanish former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Asso ...

in the first round in two tie-breaking sets, but lost to Karolína Plíšková in the second round, in three sets. Seeded seventh at the Malaysian Open, Vekić won her first career title by defeating top seed Dominika Cibulková in the final. At the Madrid Open, Vekić was defeated in the final round of qualifying by

Kristina Mladenovic Kristina "Kiki" Mladenovic (born 14 May 1993) is a French professional tennis player and a former List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles. Her best singles ranking is world No. 10. She is a nine-time Grand Slam ...

. At the

French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...

in Roland-Garros, she lost in the first round to Julia Glushko. Vekić played one grass-court tournament before Wimbledon, at the Birmingham Classic where she was defeated in the first round by

Belinda Bencic Belinda Bencic (; born 10 March 1997) is a Swiss professional tennis player. She has a career-high WTA rankings, ranking of world No. 4 which she achieved in February 2020. Bencic has won nine career singles titles, including Tennis at the 2020 ...

. At the

Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly called Wimbledon, is a tennis tournament organised by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in collaboration with the Lawn Tennis Association annually in Wimbledon, London. It is chronologically the ...

, Vekić stunned 21st seed

Roberta Vinci Roberta Vinci (; born 18 February 1983) is an Italian former tennis player. In doubles tennis, she is a Grand Slam (tennis)#Career Grand Slam, Career Grand Slam champion having won all Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major tournaments and reac ...

in the first round. She lost in the second round to 2010 Wimbledon finalist

Vera Zvonareva Vera Igorevna Zvonareva ( rus, Вера Игоревна Звонарёва, p=ˈvʲerə ˈiɡərʲɪvnə zvənɐˈrʲɵvə, a=Vera zvonareva.ogg; born 7 September 1984) is a Russian former professional tennis player. Her career-high singles ran ...

. At the İstanbul Cup, Vekić was defeated in the first round by third seed Klára Koukalová. At the Baku Cup, she lost in the second round to Kristina Mladenovic. Vekić started

US Open Series The US Open Series was the name given by the United States Tennis Association (USTA) to a series of North American professional tennis tournaments leading up to and including the US Open. It was part of the "North American hard-court season". ...

at the Rogers Cup where she was eliminated in the first round of qualifying by

Tamira Paszek Tamira Shelah Paszek (born 6 December 1990) is an Austrian tennis player. On 11 February 2013, she reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 26. On 6 May 2013, she peaked at No. 93 in the doubles rankings. Paszek has won three single ...

. At the Cincinnati Open, she lost in the first round of qualifying to

Monica Niculescu Monica Niculescu (born 25 September 1987) is a Romanian professional tennis player. She has been WTA rankings, ranked by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA as high as No. 28 in singles and No. 11 in doubles. She has won three singles and 10 dou ...

. At the Connecticut Open, she was defeated in the first round of qualifying by Belinda Bencic. In

Flushing Meadows Flushing may refer to: Places Netherlands * Flushing, Netherlands, an English name for the city of Vlissingen, Netherlands United Kingdom * Flushing, Cornwall, a village in Cornwall, England * The Flushing, a building in Suffolk, Englan ...

, she lost in the first round to CoCo Vandeweghe. Seeded fifth at the

, Vekić was defeated in the second round by Urszula Radwańska. At the Korea Open, she lost in the first round to

Maria Kirilenko Maria Yuryevna Kirilenko ( rus, Мари́я Ю́рьевна Кириле́нко, p=mɐˈrʲijə kʲɪrʲɪˈlʲenkə, a=Ru-Maria_Kirilenko.ogg; born 25 January 1987) is a Russian former professional tennis player. A junior Grand Slam champio ...

. After qualifying for the first edition of the

Wuhan Open The Wuhan Open (currently sponsored by Dongfeng Voyah) is a WTA 1000 tennis tournament held in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China and organized for female professional tennis players. It is one of the WTA 1000 tournaments on the WTA Tour and made its ...

, Vekić was defeated in the first round by 16th seed Andrea Petkovic.

2015: Fourth WTA Tour final

Vekić began the year as world No. 81. After a bad start into the new season, she beat

Louisa Chirico Louisa Chirico (born May 16, 1996) is an American tennis player. On 24 October 2016, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 58. On 6 March 2017, she peaked at No. 184 in the WTA doubles rankings. Chirico has won seven singles titles ...

at Indian Wells but lost in the second round to

Zarina Diyas Zarina Diyas (; ; born 18 October 1993) is a Kazakh professional tennis player. She has been WTA rankings, ranked as high as No. 31 by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA. Diyas has won one singles title on the WTA Tour, at the 2017 Japan Women' ...

. After her ranking dropped to No. 177, she entered the Lale Cup in Istanbul as the top seed but lost in the quarterfinals to the sixth seed,

Margarita Gasparyan Margarita Melikovna Betova (née Gasparyan; rus, Маргари́та Ме́ликовна Гаспаря́н, , mərɡɐˈrʲitə ɡəspɐˈrʲan, Ru-Margarita Gasparyan.ogg, ; born 1 September 1994) is a Russian inactive tennis player. Betov ...

. She lost in the first round of the Marrakesh Grand Prix, and in the second round of the Madrid Open. During the

, she claimed her first top-40 victory in the season when she beat

Caroline Garcia Caroline Garcia (, born 16 October 1993) is a French professional tennis player. She had a career-high WTA rankings, ranking of world No. 4 in singles and world No. 2 in doubles. Garcia was the 2022 WTA Finals – Singles, 2022 WTA Finals champi ...

, and also defeated Bojana Jovanovski before bowing out to

Ana Ivanovic Ana Schweinsteiger (name at birth, née Ivanovic; born 6 November 1987) is a Serbian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tenn ...

. After the French Open she continued her bad form from the first half of the season by failing to qualify for

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

or the US Open. In

Tashkent Tashkent (), also known as Toshkent, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uzbekistan, largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3 million people as of April 1, 2024. I ...

, she reached the final with three-set wins over

Kiki Bertens Kiki Bertens (; born 10 December 1991) is a Dutch former professional tennis player. Her career-high WTA rankings#Current rankings, singles ranking was world No. 4, which she reached on 13 May 2019, becoming the highest-ranked Dutch female playe ...

, Carina Witthöft and Anna-Lena Friedsam and a two-set victory over Evgeniya Rodina, but lost to

Nao Hibino is a Japanese professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 56 in singles and No. 43 in doubles by the WTA. Hibino has won three singles titles and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour. She has also won nine singles and ...

. She ended the season ranked No. 105.

2016: Fifth ITF title

Vekić began the season ranked 103. At the

, she lost in the first round to qualifier

Naomi Osaka is a Japanese professional tennis player. She has been ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA for 25 weeks, the first Asian player to hold the ...

. She reached the quarterfinals of the San Antonio Open, with wins over

Aliaksandra Sasnovich Aliaksandra Aliaksandraŭna Sasnovich (born 22 March 1994) is a Belarusian professional tennis player. She achieved her best singles ranking of world No. 29 on 19 September 2022, and peaked at No. 39 in the WTA doubles rankings on 23 August 2021 ...

and Kiki Bertens, before losing to

Tsvetana Pironkova Tsvetana Kirilova Pironkova ( ; born 13 September 1987) is a Bulgarians, Bulgarian former tennis player. Considered to be one of the best grass court players of her generation, she has been noted for her "cerebral" skills on the surface, reachi ...

. She lost in the first round of ten consecutive WTA tournaments from February to August, including the

, where she lost to

Madison Keys Madison Keys (born February 17, 1995) is an American professional tennis player. She has been WTA rankings, ranked as high as world No. 5 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA. Keys has won ten WTA Tour-level career singles ...

, and

, where she took

Venus Williams Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is an American inactive tennis player. She has been ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA for 11 wee ...

to a first-set tie-break but lost in straight sets. At

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

in August, Vekić had victories over Varvara Lepchenko and Mariana Duque Marino in qualifying, and defeated world No. 25 Ana Ivanovic, in the first round, before losing to tenth seed

Johanna Konta Johanna Konta (born 17 May 1991) is a British-Australian former professional tennis player. Konta won four singles titles on the WTA Tour, along with eleven titles in singles and four in doubles on the ITF Women's Circuit. She was British No. ...

in the second round. She failed to progress through qualifying for the US Open. In September, she reached the final of the ITF Saint Petersburg, with wins over Olga Doroshina,

Anastasiya Komardina Anastasiya Andreyevna Komardina (; born 8 July 1997) is an inactive Russian tennis player. Komardina has reached a career-high junior ranking of No. 15 in July 2014. On 10 April 2017, she achieved her best singles ranking of world No. 172. On 1 ...

Vesna Dolonc Vesna Ratkovna Dolonc (Serbian Cyrillic and ; née Manasieva, Манасиева; born 21 July 1989) is a retired Serbian tennis player. She earned career-highs of 84 in singles and 93 in doubles. Career Dolonc began competing on the ITF Circ ...

and

Aryna Sabalenka Aryna Siarhiejeŭna Sabalenka (born 5 May 1998) is a Belarusian professional tennis player. She is currently ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), and is a former world No. 1 in women's doubles. ...

, before losing the final to Natalia Vikhlyantseva, in straight sets. In

, she lost in the first round to Kateryna Kozlova. In

Tianjin Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...

, after her victory over Zhang Kailin, she lost to the second seed, Svetlana Kuznetsova. In October, at the Soho Square Tournament, she had victories over Laura Pigossi, Jaqueline Cristian (walkover) and

Arantxa Rus Arantxa Rus (; born 13 December 1990) is a Dutch professional tennis player. She won one WTA Tour singles title at the 2023 Hamburg European Open – Women's singles, 2023 Hamburg Open and four in doubles. Her biggest singles successes to date ...

, before she beat

Maria Sakkari Maria Sakkari (, ; born 25 July 1995) is a Greek professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 3 by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA, which she first achieved on 21 March 2022, making her the highest-ranked Greek player ...

in three sets in the semifinals to reach her second ITF final of the year. In the final, she defeated

Sara Sorribes Tormo Sara Sorribes Tormo (; born 8 October 1996) is a Spanish professional tennis player. She achieved her career-high singles WTA rankings, ranking of world No. 32 on 7 February 2022 and No. 17 in doubles on 6 May 2024. She has won two singles titl ...

in three sets, to win the fifth ITF title of her career. In

Poitiers Poitiers is a city on the river Clain in west-central France. It is a commune in France, commune, the capital of the Vienne (department), Vienne department and the historical center of Poitou, Poitou Province. In 2021, it had a population of 9 ...

, she lost in the first round to

Lauren Davis Lauren Davis (born October 9, 1993) is an American professional tennis player. Known for her aggressive backhand, speed, and clay-court strength, she has won two singles titles on the WTA Tour and reached a career-high singles WTA rankings, ran ...

, while at the Open de Limoges she reached the third round, where she lost in three sets to world No. 24 and top-seed, Caroline Garcia. Vekić ended the season ranked world No. 101.

2017: Second career title

She reached the second round at the

and then lost to Caroline Wozniacki. Vekić won her second WTA Tour title at the Nottingham Open in June, defeating Johanna Konta in three sets. Two weeks later, in the second round of the

, she lost to Konta in three sets, with the final set lasting eighteen games. At the US Open, she reached the third round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time since the 2015 French Open, easily losing to Anastasija Sevastova. Vekić broke into the top 50 for the first time in July, reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 45 on 25 September, and ended the season ranked No. 56.

2018: Top 50 year-end ranking

, Vekić reached the fourth round in a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in her career. She upset world No. 4,

Sloane Stephens Sloane Stephens (born March 20, 1993) is an American professional tennis player. She has achieved a career-best ranking of world No. 3 by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA. Stephens has won eight WTA Tour-level singles titles, including the 2 ...

, in the first round, then beat Rebecca Peterson and

Yanina Wickmayer Yanina Wickmayer (born 20 October 1989) is a Belgian professional tennis player. She reached the semifinals at the 2009 US Open – Women's singles, 2009 US Open, and a career-high WTA ranking of No. 12, on 19 April 2010. In doubles, she achieve ...

in straight sets before losing to eventual semifinalist

Julia Görges Julia Görges (born 2 November 1988) is a German former professional tennis player. A former top-ten singles player, she was ranked as high as No. 9 in the world on 20 August 2018, and was ranked inside the top 15 in doubles, peaking at world No ...

. Following Wimbledon, she made the final at the Washington Open; however, she lost to

in three sets, after squandering four match points in the second set. In September, Vekić reached the semifinals in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

by defeating top-10 players Sloane Stephens and Caroline Garcia. She ended the season ranked 34, her first year-end top 50 rankings.

2019: US Open quarterfinal, top 20

Vekić started the year strong by reaching the semifinals in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, but was unable to keep this momentum at the

, being upset in the second round by the Australian wild card and world No. 240,

Kimberly Birrell Kimberly Birrell (born 29 April 1998) is an Australian professional tennis player. Birrell reached a career-high WTA ranking of No. 68 on 17 March 2025 and a doubles ranking of No. 162 on 9 September 2024. Birrell is the current No. 1 Australi ...

. She rebounded at her next tournament, reaching the biggest final of her career at the St. Petersburg Trophy, a Premier-level event. Along the way, she upset the defending champion, world No. 2 and Australian Open runner-up, Petra Kvitová, in the quarterfinals, her first career win over the Czech. In the final, she was beaten by world No. 8, Kiki Bertens, in two close sets. She then reached another semifinal in

Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , ; ), is a city and Port of Acapulco, major seaport in the Political divisions of Mexico, state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Located on a deep, semicirc ...

, losing to eventual champion

Wang Yafan Wang Yafan (; ; born 30 April 1994) is a Chinese professional tennis player. On 7 October 2019, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 47. She peaked at No. 49 in the doubles rankings on 15 February 2016. In her career, she has won ...

, before recording early round exits in both Indian Wells and Miami. Vekić only played two clay-court warm-up tournaments, losing in the quarterfinals to world No. 1, Naomi Osaka, in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

and retiring in her third-round match against fellow Croatian

Petra Martić Petra Martić (; born 19 January 1991) is a Croatian professional tennis player. She has a career-high WTA rankings, singles ranking of world No. 14, achieved in January 2020. Martić has won two singles titles on the WTA Tour, one singles and o ...

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

due to a foot injury. Seeded 23rd at the

, Vekić advanced to the fourth round for the first time in her career, after upsetting world No. 15, Belinda Bencic, in the third round. She then lost to Johanna Konta, in straight sets. Opening the grass-court season in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

, Vekić reached her second final of the year before falling to former world No. 4, Caroline Garcia, despite leading by a set and a break. After an opening-round loss to French Open champion

Ashleigh Barty Ashleigh Jacinta Barty (born 24 April 1996) is an Australian former professional tennis player and cricketer. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Assoc ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, Vekić was tabbed as a potential dark horse in the ladies' singles draw at

. However, she was upset in three sets in her first round match by eventual quarterfinalist, American

Alison Riske Alison Riske-Amritraj (née Riske; born July 3, 1990) is an inactive American tennis player. She reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 18 in November 2019 and won her first WTA Tour title in October 2014, at the Tianjin Open. S ...

. Rebounding from this disappointment, Vekić opened the summer hardcourt season with a semifinal showing in San Jose, before making the third round in

where she fell to Venus Williams. Seeded 23rd at the US Open, Vekić defeated

Richèl Hogenkamp Richèl Hogenkamp (born 16 April 1992) is a Dutch former professional tennis player. Her highest WTA singles ranking is 94, which she reached on 24 July 2017. On the ITF Circuit, she won 16 singles and 14 doubles titles. Personal background H ...

Kaia Kanepi Kaia Kanepi (; born 10 June 1985) is an Estonian inactive professional tennis player. She achieved her career-high ranking of world No. 15 on 20 August 2012 and has won four singles titles on the WTA Tour. Described as a 'resident Grand Slam up ...

and 26th seed

to advance to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal, becoming the first Croatian woman to reach the last eight at the US Open since

Ana Konjuh Ana Konjuh (; born 27 December 1997) is a Croatian tennis player. A successful junior player, Konjuh won both the 2013 Australian Open – Girls' singles, singles and 2013 Australian Open – Girls' doubles, doubles junior events at the 2013 A ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

. There, she was beaten by the 13th seed Bencic, in straight sets. Despite recording just two match wins in her next five tournaments following the US Open, Vekić qualified for the second tier year-end singles tournament, the WTA Elite Trophy, for the first time in her career. Drawn in the Azalea Group with top seed Bertens and Dayana Yastremska, she fell in straight sets in both her matches, ending her season. Nonetheless, Vekić finished the year ranked No. 19, her first year-end top 20 finish.

2020: Out of top 20

Vekić kicked off her 2020 season at the

Brisbane International The Brisbane International established in 2009 is a professional tennis tournament played on Tennis court#Hard courts, outdoor hardcourts in Brisbane, Queensland in Australia. It is a WTA 500 tournaments, WTA 500 tournament and an ATP World T ...

. She lost in the first round to qualifier Yulia Putintseva. Playing at the first edition of the Adelaide International, Vekić reached the quarterfinal where she was defeated by eventual finalist, Dayana Yastremska. Seeded 19th at the

, Vekić beat 2008 champion and former world No. 1,

Maria Sharapova Maria Yuryevna Sharapova (, ; born 19 April 1987) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 21 weeks. Sharapova won 36 WTA Tour-level sin ...

, in the first round, and

Alizé Cornet Alizé Cornet (; born 22 January 1990) is a French professional tennis player. She has won six singles and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as three singles and three doubles titles on the ITF Women's World Tennis Tour, ITF Circuit. ...

in the second. She lost in the third round to

Iga Świątek Iga Natalia Świątek (; born 31 May 2001) is a Polish professional tennis player. She has been ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women’s singles by the Women's Tennis Association, Women’s Tenn ...

. At St. Petersburg, Vekić, the seventh seed and the previous year's finalist, was defeated in the second round by Ekaterina Alexandrova. Seeded 17th at the Qatar Ladies Open, she lost in the first round to Iga Świątek.

2021: Australian Open fourth round, WTA 250 title

Vekić started her 2021 season at the first edition of the Abu Dhabi Open. Seeded 16th, she lost in the first round to

Bernarda Pera Bernarda Pera ( ; ; born 3 December 1994) is a Croatian-American professional tennis player. Pera has won two singles titles and one doubles title on the WTA Tour, along with nine singles and eight doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. She achieved ...

. Seeded ninth at the first edition of the Yarra Valley Classic, she was defeated in the second round by Tsvetana Pironkova. Seeded 28th at the

, she achieved her best ever result by reaching the fourth round; she ended up being eliminated from the tournament by 22nd seed and eventual finalist, Jennifer Brady. With this run, she has reached the fourth round or better, completing the sweep of second-week appearances, at each of the four Grand Slam events. After the Australian Open, she underwent surgery on her right knee and said that she would be out of action for a while. Vekić returned in time for the

but was beaten in the first round by ninth seed Karolína Plíšková. Seeded third at the Nottingham Open, her first grass-court tournament of the season, Vekić lost in the third round to 15th seed Nina Stojanović. Seeded third in

, she reached quarterfinals and was defeated by Heather Watson. At

, she was eliminated in the second round by eighth seed and eventual finalist, Karolína Plíšková. Representing Croatia at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

, Vekić upset third seed Aryna Sabalenka in the second round. She was beaten in the third round by 15th seed and eventual semifinalist,

Elena Rybakina Elena Andreyevna Rybakina (born 17 June 1999) is a Russian-born Kazakhstani professional tennis player. She has been WTA rankings, ranked world No. 3 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA, making her the first Kazakhstani ...

. Vekić won her third WTA Tour title, and first since 2017, at the Courmayeur Open in October, she returned to the top 70.

2022: Hiatus, second WTA 500 final, back to top 50

She took a two-month hiatus between the Australian Open and before Roland Garros returning to the WTA tour in April. Ranked No. 101, she qualified for

2022 French Open The 2022 French Open was a Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was held at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 22 May to 5 June 2022, comprising singles, doubles and mixed doubles play. J ...

as the sixth qualifier seed. It was the first time Vekić has had to contest qualifying for a major since the 2016 US Open, due to injury and missing play between Australian Open and Roland Garros in 2021, leading to a dip in the rankings. After making the main draw at the

and a first-round win over Mirjam Björklund, she was defeated by

Amanda Anisimova Amanda Kay Victoria Anisimova ( ; ; born August 31, 2001) is an American professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles WTA rankings, WTA ranking of world No. 13, achieved on 16 June 2025. Anisimova has won three WTA Tour titles, inc ...

in the second round. At

, Vekić lost in the first round to Jessica Pegula, in straight sets. On 17 October 2022, she returned to the top 50 at world No. 47 for the first time since July 2021 after a final showing at the WTA 500 San Diego Open as a qualifier, defeating four straight top-25 players (including two in the top 10) en route before losing to Iga Świątek.

2023: Monterrey Open title, Australian Open quarterfinals

Vekić started her 2023 season at the 2023 United Cup, where she represented Croatia. She won all three of her matches in straight sets including a win over French player

. After the United Cup she entered the

ranked No. 64. There she defeated Oksana Selekhmeteva, 18th seed

Liudmila Samsonova Liudmila Dmitrievna Samsonova ( rus, Людмила Дмитриевна Самсонова, , lʲʊdˈmʲiɫə sɐmˈsonəvə; born 11 November 1998) is a Russian professional tennis player. She has career-high WTA rankings of No. 12 in singles ...

, Nuria Parrizas-Diaz and Linda Fruhvirtová to reach her first Australian Open quarterfinal. She lost to the eventual champion,

, in straight sets. As a result, she moved up 30 places in the rankings and re-entered the top 40, at world No. 33 on 30 January 2023. Vekić won her fourth career title defeating top seed

in three tight sets at the Monterrey Open in Mexico. The victory was her first top-ten win of the season and first title since 2021. As a result, she returned to the top 25 on 6 March 2023. Five days later, she lost early to Lesia Tsurenko at Indian Wells in a three-set match where she refused a handshake from her opponent.

2024: Wimbledon semifinal, Olympic silver medal

Seeded third, Vekić reached the semifinals at the Linz Open in February, recording wins over wildcard entrant Dayana Yastremska and Clara Burel, before losing to second seed Ekaterina Alexandrova. The following month, she reached the quarterfinals at the San Diego Open, defeating wildcard entrant Katherine Hui and qualifier Marina Stakusic, but losing to eventual champion Katie Boulter in the last eight. Vekić made her fifth grass-court final at the Bad Homburg Open in June defeating

Viktoriya Tomova Viktoriya Konstantinova Tomova (, born 25 February 1995) is a Bulgarian professional tennis player. She reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 46 on 29 July 2024. Her best doubles ranking is No. 254, achieved on 11 August 2014. Tomo ...

in the semifinals, before losing to Diana Shnaider in the final. She reached a major semifinal for the first time in her career at

by defeating

Wang Xiyu Wang Xiyu (; ; born 28 March 2001) is a Chinese professional tennis player. She reached a career-high WTA singles ranking of No. 49 on 9 January 2023, and a best doubles ranking of No. 98 on 19 August 2024. Wang became junior world No. 1 on ...

, lucky loser

Erika Andreeva Erika Aleksandrovna Andreeva ( rus, Эрика Александровна Андреева, p=ˈɛrʲɪkə ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvnə ɐnˈdrʲe(j)ɪvə, born 24 June 2004) is a Russian tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of world N ...

, 28th seed Dayana Yastremska, Paula Badosa, and qualifier Lulu Sun. She became the first Croatian woman to reach the semifinals at the All England Club since

Mirjana Lučić-Baroni Mirjana Lučić-Baroni (; ; born 9 March 1982) is a Croatian inactive professional tennis player. She enjoyed a meteoric rise on the WTA Tour in the late 1990s, during which she set various "youngest-ever" records. She captured the women's double ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

and the first to do so at any major since Lučić-Baroni at the

2017 Australian Open The 2017 Australian Open was a List of tennis tournaments, tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park between 16 and 29 January 2017. It was the 105th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam tourname ...

. Vekić lost what was the longest-ever Wimbledon women's singles semifinal to Jasmine Paolini. At the Paris Olympics, she made the quarterfinals with wins over Lucia Bronzetti,

Bianca Andreescu Bianca Vanessa Andreescu (; born June 16, 2000) is a Canadian professional tennis player. She has been WTA rankings, ranked world No. 4 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA. Andreescu has won two singles titles on the WTA T ...

and second seed Coco Gauff. In the last eight, Vekić defeated 12th seed Marta Kostyuk on her fifth match point to become the first Croatian woman to reach the medal stage at the Olympics. She overcame Anna Karolína Schmiedlová in the semifinals, but then lost the Gold Medal match to Chinese player

Zheng Qinwen Zheng Qinwen ( zh, , p=Zhèng Qīnwén, s=郑钦文; IPA: ; born 8 October 2002) is a Chinese professional tennis player. She has been ranked world No. 4 in women's singles by the WTA, achieved in June 2025, and is only the second Chinese pla ...

in straight sets. Vekić defeated qualifier

, Greet Minnen and Peyton Stearns to reach the fourth round at the US Open, where she lost to seventh seed Zheng Qinwen in three sets. In December, Vekić announced she had hired Sascha Bajin as her new coach replacing Nikola Horvat who had quit the previous month for family reasons.

2025: Australian Open fourth round

Vekić defeated Diane Parry, lucky loser

Harriet Dart Harriet Dart (born 28 July 1996) is a British professional tennis player. She achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 70 and a career-high doubles ranking of No. 59, on 14 October 2024. She reached the final of the 2021 Wimbledon Ch ...

and 12th seed Diana Shnaider to make it through to the fourth round at the

, where she lost to 27th seed

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova Anastasia Sergeyevna "Nastia" Pavlyuchenkova (; born 3 July 1991) is a Russian professional tennis player. She reached a career-high singles WTA rankings, ranking of world No. 11 on 8 November 2021. Pavlyuchenkova has won twelve singles titles ...

Personal life

Vekić was in a relationship with

Stan Wawrinka Stanislas "Stan" Wawrinka (; born 28 March 1985) is a Swiss professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), first achieved on 27 January 2014. Wawrinka has won 16 ATP T ...

from 2015 to 2019. In 2021, she founded a luxury home fragrance brand, DNNA, selling beeswax candles and reed diffusers. She announced that a percentage of all sales revenue will be donated towards bee conservation in her native Croatia. From 2021 to 2024, she opened three public tennis courts in her hometown of Osijek, all modeled after Grand Slam venues.

Career statistics

Grand Slam performance timelines

Singles

Doubles

Significant finals

Olympic Games medal matches

Singles: 1 (silver medal)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vekic, Donna 1996 births Living people Sportspeople from Osijek Croatian female tennis players Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Monaco 21st-century Croatian sportswomen Olympic tennis players for Croatia Tennis players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Croatia Olympic medalists for Croatia in tennis