Borna Coric and Donna Vekic were crowned champions at the 2023 Hopman Cup, which was a revived edition of the popular exhibition event.
The Hopman Cup once again returned to the tennis calendars, but this time not at the start of the season on the hard courts in Australia, but in the middle of the season as a clay-court event in France, running from July 19th to 23rd at the Nice Lawn Tennis Club in Nice, France.
Carlos Alcaraz, the ATP World No. 1 player, was among those who competed at the event, but Spain didn't walk away with the trophy.
Croatia, with Coric and Vekic representing their country, proved to be the best at the event, beating Spain and Belgium in the group stage to set up a final clash with Switzerland.
In the final, they easily outplayed the Swiss team to secure the title at the revived Hopman Cup. Vekic started the final tie with a simple win over Celine Naef, 6-3, 6-4.
That meant Coric had a match point in his match against Leandro Riedi, which he also won in two sets, 6-1, 6-4, to secure the trophy for Croatia.
The victory didn't come easily, as in the group stage, the Croatians had to save match points in a mixed doubles match against Alcaraz and Rebeka Masarova, which they ended up winning 1-6, 6-4, 14-12.
Obviously, winning the trophy together was an emotional moment for both. Coric spoke very nicely about his partner, with whom he formed a great mixed doubles team.
"When we came here, we were both not playing our best tennis, and we never played mixed doubles. We were not sure how it was going to play out, but we were very happy that we were playing, and it was my pleasure to be here with [her]."
Of course, Vekic also enjoyed competing alongside Coric, whom she had known since their childhood. They had grown up on the tennis courts together. She also joked that they are unbeaten as a team.
"Borna, it was really a lot of fun playing with you. We've known each other for almost 20 years, and we've never played doubles before now. So far, we're unbeaten. I'm a little bit sad we didn't have another chance today!"