Donna Vekic reaches first Grand Slam semifinal in comeback win over Lulu Sun at Wimbledon

Croatia’s Donna Vekic returns the ball to New Zealand’s Lulu Sun during their women’s singles quarter-finals tennis match on the ninth day of the 2024 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, on Jul. 9, 2024. (AFP)

• “I felt like I was dying out there, the first two sets. But I just kept going, hoping to have a chance and it came in the end,” Vekic said
• Vekic becomes the second woman representing Croatia to reach the last four at the All England Club

LONDON: Donna Vekic persevered to win the biggest match of her career.
The 28-year-old Croatian, slowed in recent years by injuries, reached her first Grand Slam semifinal in her 43rd appearance at a major tournament by beating qualifier Lulu Sun 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 at Wimbledon on Tuesday.
“I felt like I was dying out there, the first two sets. But I just kept going, hoping to have a chance and it came in the end,” Vekic said in an on-court interview.
Vekic becomes the second woman representing Croatia to reach the last four at the All England Club, after Mirjana Lucic in 1999.
The 23-year-old Sun, who played college tennis at the University of Texas, was making her debut at the grass-court tournament and is the first player from New Zealand to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals in the Open era.
“It was a really tough match, she played unbelievable,” said Vekic, who had knee surgery in 2021. “She really pushed me to my limits.”
She will next play either No. 7 Jasmine Paolini or No. 19 Emma Navarro.
Serving for the second set at 5-3, Vekic committed five double-faults to help Sun break, but Vekic broke right back to force a deciding set, which the veteran player dominated.
On Center Court, No. 1 Jannik Sinner was playing No. 5 Daniil Medvedev in a rematch of the Australian Open final, which Sinner won in five sets for his first Grand Slam title.