THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 9, 2024

Donna Vekic

Press Conference

D. VEKIC/L. Sun

5-7, 6-4, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Donna, semifinals. How are you feeling?

DONNA VEKIC: Pretty good. Really happy, yeah. That's it (smiling).

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How special was it to have your brother in the box, and how much of a boost was that today?

DONNA VEKIC: Yeah, it's always special to have my family there with me watching. He flew in this morning. I didn't even see him yet.

My brother, my cousins who are watching me for the first time. It's really great to have all my friends here, as well. It's a really nice atmosphere at home.

Q. At the end you looked out of breath, unwell. How are you feeling?

DONNA VEKIC: I don't even remember. It was a tough match. The first two sets were incredibly high level. I think she was playing really well. I was struggling a little bit because I couldn't find a way to get through her.

But in the third set, I think I raised my level even more and managed to close it out.

Q. What is the humidity like, the temperature?

DONNA VEKIC: I mean, it's humid. It's been raining for 10 days straight more or less, but it doesn't really matter. I was so happy to have finished the match from start to finish.

Q. You wear your heart on your sleeve when you're out there. You can see all the emotions and stresses. How much did you want this today, to get to that semifinal? How stressful was it?

DONNA VEKIC: I mean, I wanted it a lot, of course. Before the match, I was relaxed. The only moment where I was a bit more stressed out during the match was when I saw how well she's playing. It's not that I didn't expect her to play well. I knew she was going to come out swinging.

I could not find the depth in my shots. I wasn't executing my shots as well as I wanted to. That's why I was, I don't know, a little bit more stressed and tense.

But at the end I managed to find my game.

Q. After what happened in Paris, does it make it extra special to have an up after what could have been a season-ending situation?

DONNA VEKIC: Yeah, that was a very tough loss for me in Paris. Honestly, it hurt me so much that I saw what I needed to change. It pushed me and motivated me even more.

Q. I think you talked about the injuries you had previously a couple years ago. How much does it mean to you to be reaching the semis, given what you went through in '21 and '22?

DONNA VEKIC: Yeah, it was those couple of years were very tough. I didn't think I was ever going to come back to the level that I even had last year.

So this now, reaching my best result ever at a slam, I'm really proud of myself, of the work that I've done, of the work that my team has done. I'm very thankful to them for believing in me when I didn't.

Q. What was the challenge of playing someone today who is relatively unknown, so not quite sure how skilled she is or what's going to happen out there?

DONNA VEKIC: Yeah, what's always been tricky for me is playing against lefties. I always struggle a bit more on the return against a lefty serve. So that was that.

But in a way it's not like, okay, it's just another match, you don't really think too much against who you're playing. I was like, okay, I was not trying to think it's quarterfinals. It's just another round of the tournament, not trying to forget that it's Wimbledon. If I would think about that, I would probably die on the court (smiling).

Q. How were you able to reset so effectively when you were broken serving for the second set? What were you saying to yourself?

DONNA VEKIC: I was so angry. I was so angry at myself because even to get broken in the first set at 5-All, then finally managed to break her in the second set, then get broken. I don't know where those double-faults came from. I wasn't particularly nervous. I was surprised that I was just hitting double-faults.

I was like, No, this is not happening right now. I could hear Pam shouting, Reset, reset. I was like, Reset what (laughter)?

I was already kind of... didn't think I was going to break her again. I was just trying to think how I'm going to play my service game at 5-All.

Q. With this new rule with the coaching, you can have a bit of an exchange now. Would you say you're a player that has benefited from that in this championship?

DONNA VEKIC: Probably not. I told them to shut up five times during the match (laughter).

Probably not. But it's also nice when I reach out to them, that I can reach out in case I need help. I know that they're always there.

Q. Going into the semifinals, whoever the opponent is, what do you think the biggest challenge around it is?

DONNA VEKIC: Well, I don't know yet. I'm just going to try to keep the same routines, try to recover the best I can, get ready for the match, and try not to think that it's semifinals of Wimbledon.

I mean, I'm going to enjoy being on Centre Court. It's the best court in the world. So I'm really going to try to enjoy my time out there.

Q. For fans who aren't as familiar with your story, how close were you to walking away from the sport? How far away does that moment feel from where you are right now?

DONNA VEKIC: There was a couple of times in my career that I didn't want to play tennis any more. Most of you know that it was after my surgeries, but actually there was one recent one.

It was the Thursday before Roland Garros this year that we had scheduled practice. I arrived to the club. I told Nick, Listen, I want to pull out of French Open. I want to go home. I want to take a longer break.

I didn't have any energy, any motivation to keep practicing, keep pushing because I felt like the last couple months I've given everything for tennis, and I wasn't getting the results that I kind of expected.

It was a very, very tough moment, but they were all there for me. Like I said, that loss in Paris was so, so painful. But it motivated me again to keep working, to keep pushing.

It's crazy how in tennis things can turn so fast. One of my best friends, who was with me in Rome, I was talking to her before the match. I was like, Do you remember Rome after the match?

She was like, Yeah, and now you're in the quarterfinals. Now I'm in the semifinals. I think not just in tennis, in life things can turn pretty fast.

Q. Given all that, how would you describe your story from almost giving up a short time ago to where you are right now?

DONNA VEKIC: I mean, I guess to never give up. It's not easy at times. Yeah, I had to really dig deep inside and push myself.

But like I said, if I didn't have the team of people around me, I don't know how I would find the strength in me.

Q. You mentioned your team. In particular Pam, you've been together for quite a while now. What is it about her or your relationship with her that's been so successful? What makes her such a good person to have on the team?

DONNA VEKIC: Well, Pam is, first of all, a great person off the court. She's had an amazing career. She has so much experience, especially because playing, and then the last couple of years she's been commentating. She knows all the players really well.

Like I said, she has all the experience, so she can help me in some crucial moments. She's great fun. I'm really proud to have her in my team.

Q. Her personality, too, great stories, great chat?

DONNA VEKIC: Exactly. What I like about her and everyone in my team, they always say it the way it is. They don't try to sugarcoat things. They're very direct, which I really appreciate.

Q. You were asked before about the stresses of these matches. Do you enjoy them at all?

DONNA VEKIC: No, not at all (laughter). A lot of the times I'm like, I just cannot wait for this match to be over.

Honestly, it's really tough out there. Doesn't matter if it's first round, second round, quarterfinals, it's tough. It's tough to enjoy.

The part that I do enjoy is playing on big courts with such an amazing crowd. That's the part that I try to soak in while I'm playing. I have to always remind myself to enjoy it.

In the moment it's tough. You want to win, and you want to win as fast as possible, get out of there. Yeah, playing on Court 1 in Wimbledon, you have to try to enjoy it.

Q. We don't know your next opponent, so could you speak individually first about Emma?

DONNA VEKIC: Emma has had an amazing last couple of months. She's improved so much. She's a very solid player. She's a very nice girl, as well. I like her a lot. I like her team, as well.

If I play her, I mean, what else can I say other than it's going to be a tough match in the semifinals.

Q. Anything specific about the way she plays?

DONNA VEKIC: She plays very, very clean game. She's very solid. It's a game that doesn't... I don't know how to word it. For example, I struggle a lot when someone plays a lot of slice, comes to the net. I think she has pretty clean game.

Q. And then Paolini?

DONNA VEKIC: She's a great girl. You can always see her smiling. I don't know if anyone is smiling as much as she does on court. She's really played amazing this year, winning Dubai, finals in Roland Garros.

I'm really, really happy for her. She's a really nice girl.

Q. How has she done it?

DONNA VEKIC: How? I don't know. I don't know. She's playing great tennis. She's very aggressive. She moves well. I guess that.