Donna Vekic was born on June 28, 1996, in Osijek, Croatia, to Igor and Brankica Vekic. Her father was a professional footballer, while her mother was a former track hurdle athlete. She also has a younger brother named Bruno, a football player and an aspiring pilot.
Vekic made a mark immediately on the WTA Tour at the age of 16. In one of her first WTA tournaments, she reached the final of the Tashkent Open in September 2012. It ended in a 4-6, 4-6 defeat to Irina-Camelia Begu. The Croatian had success on grass in 2013 at the Birmingham Classic.
She progressed to another final at that event but lost out for a second time against Daniela Hantuchova. 2013 also saw Vekic win her first two Grand Slam matches at the Australian Open and the US Open. It was third time lucky for Vekic at the 2014 Malaysian Open. She claimed a maiden WTA title with a thrilling 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 final victory against Dominika Cibulkova. Incredibly, Vekic recovered from a set down in four out of her five matches in Malaysia.
After difficult 2015 and 2016 seasons, Vekic won a second WTA title in 2017. This came on the grass courts of Nottingham in June of that year. She recovered in the final again to beat home favourite Johanna Konta 2-6, 7-6, 7-5.
Vekic had a very strong 2019. She reached two finals in the same season for the first time in her career. These came in St Petersburg and at Nottingham once again. Unfortunately, Vekic lost both finals to Kiki Bertens and Caroline Garcia respectively.
The Croatian also reached a maiden Grand Slam quarterfinal in 2019 at the US Open. She triumphed against Richel Hogenkamp, Kaia Kanepi, Yulia Putinsteva, and Julia Gorges to achieve that. Her run at Flushing Meadows was ended by Belinda Bencic.
The following three years were somewhat mixed for Vekic. However, she still won a third WTA title in 2021 at the Courmayeur Ladies Open. 2021 also saw her make the fourth round of the Australian Open for the first time. Vekic’s first half of the 2023 season was the best of her career.
A second Grand Slam quarterfinal was achieved at the Australian Open, with victories against Oksana Selekhmetova, Liudmila Samsonova, Nuria Parrizas Diaz, and Linda Fruhvirtova. She lost in the quarterfinal to the eventual champion Aryna Sabalenka.
Just a few weeks later, Vekic won her fourth WTA title by prevailing 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 against Caroline Garcia at the Monterrey Open, before being the runner-up at the Berlin Open to Petra Kvitova in June. Although her results declined in the second half of 2023, Vekic still progressed from 69 to 23 in the year-end rankings.
