GUADALAJARA OPEN

October 18, 2022

Donna Vekic

Press Conference

D. VEKIC/L. Pigossi

6-4, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Strong performance today. Your thoughts on the match.

DONNA VEKIC: Yeah, was a tough match because, I mean, I arrived late afternoon yesterday. I had a nap in the hotel, then I felt even worse.

We came to hit for, like, 30 minutes. I swear to God, my first ball went in the back fence. I was like, Okay, this is going to be interesting. Same as the first point of the match today.

You know, I fought and managed to find my way through. It was not an easy one.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. What did you expect from this tournament and this week?

DONNA VEKIC: You know, honestly, I'm really happy and grateful to be here. The tournament, they gave me a wild card. Without it, I wouldn't even be able to play.

So I'm just enjoying my time here, happy to play a couple more matches before the season is over.

Q. Do you consider this as the best year of your career?

DONNA VEKIC: No, definitely not. Last week was definitely the best week of my career. I won seven matches against amazing opponents. The final was a good match, I would say, as well. It was pretty up there with my best level of playing.

But best year? No, it's far from that. But maybe next one (smiling).

Q. We saw you came here by chopper. How do you feel people receiving you like that?

DONNA VEKIC: Yeah, it was great, except the door opened mid flight (smiling). Yeah, but it was actually my fault because when we were sitting at the beginning, it was so hot, so I opened the door a little bit to have some air. I guess I didn't close it properly.

10 minutes into the flight, the door opened. I was freaking out. The guys were freaking out in the back because I was sitting in the front. The pilot was like, No pasa nada. No pasa nada.

What do you mean (laughter)?

I was holding the door.

Okay. Anyway, we landed safely.

Q. We want to know what you think about the tournament.

DONNA VEKIC: Yeah, it's my first time in Guadalajara. But I love Mexico. I love coming back here. Hopefully I can stay the whole week, let's say. I don't know. It will be tough, but I like it here so far.

Q. With the week that you did have in San Diego, it being towards the end of the year, how much does that reframe the entire season? You mentioned it's not the best year you've had. How much better does it feel now, 2022, compared to two weeks ago?

DONNA VEKIC: Hundred times better. I mean, at least...

For me, the whole year was not about the ranking. The ranking motivates me, but what means a lot to me is that I was able to play the level of tennis that I had last week, and for seven matches in a row. That really means a lot to me. It means a lot to my team. It gives me great motivation for the off-season.

Touch wood, but I'm finally going to finish the year not injured, and hopefully I can do a good pre-season and start strong in Australia.

Q. I saw the tweets with Pam Shriver. Can you talk a little bit about that. How did you start talking in San Diego? What was that whole thing?

DONNA VEKIC: Yeah, that was very unexpected, unplanned. She actually drove down the first day of quallies to talk about something completely different. Yeah, she stuck around for the whole week.

It was great to have support from her, some advices from her. Yeah, so I was really happy to have her around. Her son as well. They were really a good support all week.

Q. I want to know, who would you like to play against here in Guadalajara, a top player? Who is the toughest player you have played against?

DONNA VEKIC: Well, I have a pretty tough match next match against Kudermetova. We had a pretty good match in New York. I lost. She's playing really well. I know she's fighting for the Finals.

I'm going to try to stop her for my sake and for the sake of my friends that are just behind her also, who for sure want me to win.

I think Iga is definitely the best player around right now. The last two sets I played the best two sets of the week. In the third set, it was like playing against a wall. I really thought I was playing really well. She would just get everything back, hit an extra shot, not just for any shot for me to make an unforced error, it would be a winner.

She's definitely pretty up there right now.

Q. Are you looking for a revenge match soon?

DONNA VEKIC: Yeah. Thankfully it's not going to be this week. Maybe next year when I'm a little bit more fresh (smiling).