DONNA'S TWO BEST MONTHS OF HER CAR SO FAR – FROM WIMBLEDON SEMI-FINAL TO OLYMPIC SILVER

Not only did Donna achieve the biggest success of her career in August, in the tournament of life on the biggest tennis stage of the Philippe Chatrier Stadium during the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, but she also brought home the first Olympic medal for Croatian women's tennis. At the previous Olympic Games in Tokyo 2021, she promised herself that she would return again…

„This is the happiest day of my life so far. My goal was to win a medal for Croatia, not necessarily gold, just a medal, so I fulfilled my goal. It's something I've been dreaming about since childhood - and now it's here. So, let’s now move on!”

That is how the Croatian golden girl proves how much she has progressed in her tennis career by playing on the clay surface which is the most difficult surface to play and the least suitable for Donna. In addition to a phenomenally strong serve and forehand, in her more than 10 years of sports career, Donna has also achieved mental strength, self-confidence and stability for such game, even though emotions are a real roller coaster at such big competitions. "You leave everything on the field!" - said Donna. And the support of her family, coaches and everyone who is by her side is the wind at her back. After every tournament, regardless of victory or defeat, Donna keeps going with a favourite mantra she shares with her team: "Let's goooo!".

Behind Donna are the two best months of her career - first, the semifinals of Wimbledon and then the Olympic Games final. "Wimbledon only gave me the motivation to continue, I have realized that I can do it and that I have a chance. The ranking will come with the results alone." And yet, just two months ago, not everything looked so great... Compared to the 43th place in the WTA rankings before Roland Garros, when Donna was without motivation, dissatisfied with the achieved results so far and on the verge of leaving the tournament (even tennis), just one month later, she ranks 21st in the WTA. The path in tennis is long, full of obstacles and unknowns. "This is the life of a tennis player - no matter what peak you reach, there is always another match and tournament," explains the famous Pam Shriver who is in Donna's coaching team.

"In tennis, it is considered a great success when Wimbledon and Roland Garros are won in the same year, and Donna played almost to the end at Wimbledon and then at the Olympic Games; it's not Roland Garros, but the court is actually Roland Garros," concludes Donna's coach Nick Horvat.

FAST REWIND – MAY 2024, ROLAND GARROS

According to the professionals, the clay court at Roland Garros can be very difficult to play because the ball moves slower on it and with a lot of spin, and it is necessary to practice a lot to approach the ball properly by sliding. But it wasn't because of that that Donna was swayed, but because of her high expectations of herself. Ever since the knee surgery in 2021, she has been trying to get back "on track" and reach her best career result from 2019, when she took the 19th WTA place. However, she was not satisfied with the results achieved so far.

As often happens with Donna, somehow, defeats always motivate her as well as victories, and after the third round in which she was defeated by Olga Danilović from Serbia with 6-0, 5-7, 10-8, she told herself and her coach – if she misses the opportunity to go to Wimbledon and the Olympic Games now, she will regret it in a couple of years. "She learned to use the time between points, release stress and return to the initial state. You must apply those reset skills at the right time," Pam Shriver explains the situation at the time.

A MONTH LATER – WIMBLEDON, SEMI-FINALS

In July, she reached her first Grand Slam semi-final in Wimbledon, just two points away from the final, and at the same time the best result at a Grand Slam so far. She also gets a permanent entry into the "Last 8" club with privileges for all individual players who reach the quarterfinals at Wimbledon.

Defeating Paula Badosa (WTA 40) 6-2, 6-4, Donna enters the quarterfinals against Lulu Sun (WTA 54). One of Donna's most obvious and effective resets at Wimbledon came in that very quarter-final where she played with apparent freedom as if she had nothing to lose, winning 6-4, 6-1 and earning a place in the semi-finals against Jasmine Paolini (WTA 5). Her loss to Paolini in three sets was the longest women's semifinal in Wimbledon history and one of the best matches of the tournament, lasting just nine minutes less than three hours.

And though this defeat “broke” Donna, it did not "kill" her. Donna then spoke honestly about her emotions and sent the message "Never give up" knowing that only weeks away she was going through difficult moments and thinking about giving up completely, and then walking off the court as a Wimbledon semi-finalist with her head held high. Only four women played in more Grand Slam main draws before reaching the semifinals than Vekic. Not only in tennis, but also in life, things can turn around quickly. And, after Wimbledon, despite the injuries and pain, and even falling ill and encountering constant obstacles on the way to Paris, persistence prevailed.

IN THE SAME MONTH AFTER WIMBLEDON - 2024 OLYMPIC GAMES, PARIS, FINALS

On her way to the silver medal at the Olympics, Donna defeated Italian Lucia Bronzetti (WTA 64) 6-2, 7-5 in the first round. Then, on the way to the R16, she defeated two former Grand Slam champions, Canadian Bianca Andreescu (WTA 175) 6-3, 6-4 and American Coco Gauff (WTA 2) 7-6, 6-2. After that, Donna makes her way to the semi-finals of the Olympic tournament and defeats the Ukrainian Marta Kostjuk (WTA 20) 6-4, 7-6 (8) after two hours and 59 minutes of a great duel. In the semi-finals, she defeated the Slovakian Anna Karolina Schmiedlova (WTA 67) 6-4, 6-0, who in the last two matches in Paris defeated both finalists of this year's Wimbledon, the Italian Jasmine Paolini and the Czech Barbora Krejčikova. In the grand final, she met Chinese Qinwen Zheng (WTA 7), who celebrated last year at the WTA Elite tournament in Zhuhai, while Donna was better in 2021 in Italy. Until then, Donna and Zheng had played only twice, and their ratio was even.

Regardless of the fact that she did not return home with gold, Donna won a silver Olympic medal which she dedicates to her family, all of the coaches, physiotherapists, doctors and everyone who was with her on her journey. When asked by a journalist what are her further goals, she briefly states: "To win the Grand Slam."

Good luck Donna. And let's gooo!