Vekic clinches Nottingham Open
Manama : While the Bahrain Tennis Club members and guests were enjoying their annual Ramadan and Awarding Ceremony on Sunday night at its premises in Juffair, news filtered through that a former ITF Junior Champion in Bahrain had won the prestigious Aegon Nottingham Open in the United Kingdom.
The player in focus was Osijek born Croatian National Team player Donna Vekic who had just beaten the top seed from Great Britain Johanna Konta 2-6, 7-6 (7-3), 7-5 in the final, and unseeded herself defeated the fifth and sixth seeds on the way.
This victory for Vekic gave her an all-time best overall ranking of 58 on the women’s circuit.
The story of Vekic goes back to 2009 when as an unseeded player at the age of 13 defeated Egyptian top seed Yasmin Ebada 6-1, 6-2 in the final of the First Zain Bahrain ITF Girl’s Junior Championships hosted by Bahrain Tennis Club at its premises in
Juffair.
During her run to the title she defeated Bahrain’s Marwa Mohammed 6-0, 6-0 in the first round, then fourth seed Sara Serif of Egypt 6-3, 6-1 in the Round of 16, then Australia’s sixth seeded Skye Hopper 6-4, 6-4 in the quarter finals and then Turkey’s Ekin Bahitli 6-3, 6-3.
“I sent a message to Donna wishing her the best in the final and she thanked me for it and then when she won a further message of congratulations was sent,” said Bahrain Tennis Club General Manager, Hamdi Abdul Jawad.
Abdul Jawad expressed his happiness at her victory, “It is great to know that a junior champion at our courts in Juffair has really made the big time, looking back to the time she won here in Bahrain, it was thought she was a special talent and just as then and now she was unseeded and knocked out two seeds on the way to the final and then toppled the top seed. It is a proud moment for myself and the club that a player of this talent has graced our courts in the past and is now one of the world’s top women’s players,” concluded Abdul Jawad.
Since her Bahrain success, Vekic has represented Croatia in the Federation Cup and made her debut in 2012 against Bosnia-Herzegovina and has played all ‘Four Grand Slams’ in Australia, France, US and Wimbledon since 2013.
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