November 11, 2023,
Disappointments are a part of life.
Especially on the women’s professional tennis tour.
Sometimes, they can be really hard to bounce back from.
The super star female tennis player Donna Vekic found that out at the 2023 US Open.
As reported by the informative source tennismajors.com on August 30, 2023, “American qualifier Sachia Vickery advanced to the second round of the US Open by winning against Croat Donna Vekic, the No 21 seed, 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York on Tuesday night.”
At the time, Ms. Vickery was ranked number 204 in the world.
Now that is the epitome of a disappointment if, like Donna, you are ranked number 21.
But she did bounce back.
When you are statuesque, blessed with model looks and have accumulated over $6,800,000 in prize money, you tend to bounce back a little faster than most.
And Donna has a sense of style that tends to draw attraction more than most.
If you look at her online images, she appears to be a part of the tennis Jet Set. She is shown dressed in high fashion, captured at the beach and fawned over by famous boyfriends.
Donna has charisma. Give her that. And quite a tennis resume.
Let’s have a closer look.
Donna is a Croatian professional tennis player and businesswoman.
In November of 2019, she achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 19.
She has won four singles titles on the WTA Tour; at the 2014 Malaysian Open, at the 2017 Nottingham Open, the 2021 Courmayeur Ladies Open, and the 2023 Monterrey Open.
She has also won five singles titles and one doubles title on the ITF Circuit.
Her best performances at a Major singles event was reaching the quarterfinals of both the 2019 US Open and the 2023 Australian Open.
Donna is also a member of the Croatia Fed Cup team.
Very impressive.
The village that helped raise Donna is Osijek.
Her hometown is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021.
Osijek is the largest city and the economic and cultural center of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia.
The name was given to the city due to its position on elevated ground, which prevented the city being flooded by the local swamp waters.
The abundance of game and agriculture has made Osijek the country’s semi-official gastronomical capital.
Local dishes include traditional Slavonian-style specialties such as kulen, paprika-flavored sausage, other kinds of sausages, ham, bacon and dairy products, as well as venison and fish dishes such as the famous riblji paprikaš (fish stew made with paprika).
What can you wash that delicious food down with?
The two brands of beer brewed in Osijek are Osječko and Esseker.
Donna is from a wonderful place. No wonder she displays class, elegance and grace.
Incredible as that all is, with a person like her, who walks an elite tennis path, under the bright lights, that was the past.
So, for a super star like Donna, it is a what have you done for me lately type of sports business.
How did she fare in 2023?
Donna started her 2023 season at the 2023 United Cup, where she represented Croatia and won all three of her matches in straight sets including a win over French player Alizé Cornet.
After the United Cup she entered the Australian Open ranked No. 64.
There she defeated Oksana Selekhmeteva, 18th seed Liudmila Samsonova, Nuria Parrizas-Diaz and Linda Fruhvirtová to reach her first Australian Open quarterfinal.
Then she lost to the eventual champion, Aryna Sabalenka.
Certainly no shame there.
As a result of her great performance during the tournament, she moved up 30 places in the rankings and re-entered the top 40 at world No. 33 on January 30, 2023.
Her game kept improving.
Donna won her fourth career title defeating top seed Caroline Garcia in three tight sets at the Abierto GNP Seguros in Monterrey, Mexico. The victory was her first Top 10 win of the season and first title since 2021.
Drum roll please.
As a result, she returned to the top 25 on March 6, 2023.
In terms of her playing style, an observant online fan expressed, Donna is an aggressive baseliner. She possesses a powerful first serve that is capable of producing aces, and has been recorded as high as 111 mph.
Outstanding.
Donna is also a quick mover, with impressive speed and footwork.
Due to her movement and stamina, Donna is adept at counter punching until she can create an opportunity to hit a winner.
Her increased success in recent years has been as a result of her altering her game style away from solely aggressive play, to constructing points more deliberately, and increasing her defensive skills.
Nice decision making.
Due to her great decision making, Donna is a successful business woman as well.
Away from the courts, Donna established a luxury home fragrance brand, DNNA, in 2021, selling beeswax candles and reed diffusers.
Her business website dnna.eu educates, “Candles are 100% natural, made of beeswax, do not harm the environment and raise the quality of the air we breathe. They contain an environmentally friendly wick based on paper, not lead.
The effort of hard-working bees and thousands of kilometers flown to the flower fields of the Nature Park Kopački rit are responsible for obtaining natural, gentle and aromatic beeswax made from flower nectar.”
Good to know. Especially how earth friendly Donna’s product is.
And to think. As of this writing, she is only 27 years old. How do these young luminaries figure things out so quickly?
Now we can see how this resilient star can bounce back from a devastating first round loss at the mighty 2023 US Open.
That was then.
Now, Donna will hopefully make her mark and have another great run at the 2024 Australian Open.
You should look for her name and watch her play, most likely, some incredible tennis.
We are certain of one thing.
You will not be disappointed.
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OPENING PHOTO Shutterstock-Victor-Velter-photo-credit-Editorial-use- fcielitecompetitor.com, fciwomenswrestling2.com, femcompetitor.com, grapplingstars.com fcielitecompetitor.com
https://www.tennismajors.com/us-open-news/us-open-vickery-reaches-second-round-709181.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donna_Veki%C4%87
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osijek
https://www.fciwomenswrestling2.com
https://www.fcielitecompetitor.com/
https://fciwomenswrestling.com/
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