[Hele.]

Awesome Donna!

[BlueTrees]

Donna is first up on Centre Court at 11am tomorrow

[ma re]

Well people, what a match this was! Congratulations to the whole team once again, you all've been doing a really good job, no doubt about that now.

I really didn't know what to expect in this one as we haven't been able to watch Donna live at all this week, so we could only wonder how her level of play will compare to that of Jovanovski, but I don't think even the greatest optimists among us saw a straight set win coming this way.

Donna really showed a number of qualities out there, some of technical nature, some of psychological. Overall, she's already a very well developed player in many departments. I especially loved how she showed maturity and composure on the court, which was really important for this sort of match. She walked out there focused, ready and seemingly believing that she can win. There was no sign of a potentially shaky 16 y.o. as many girls her age would turn out to be, scared of an opportunity that was slowly but surely emerging.

I was also fascinated by the way in which she was controling her own game during points, how well she constructed many of the points by showing a lot of maturity and knowledge, but also how she was perceptive during exchanges about her opponent's behaviour and possible intentions. Really wonderful to see in someone so young.

Sure, technically speaking she has room to improve, but when you take into account how far she's come at this young age, that's actually not a bad thing. Her serve is inconsistent, although it's great to see that she isn't a type of player that'll do 3 consecutive double faults or something similar. Her second serve tends to be vulnerable at times and her movement could be better, but the way she can strike a forehand groundstroke winner is pretty amazing, with backhand trailing behind only slightly.

Overall, this was an impressive performance and I can't wait to watch her one more time tomorrow (1400 CET). I don't know much about Birnerova apart the info available online and watching a few video clips, so I realy don't know what to think about this next match. If you'll look at Birnerova's HC results coming into this event they're definately not great (got hammered by Rybarikova and Puchkova, lost on retirement to Oudin), but if she was capable to beat an in-form player like Cadantu - regardless of surface preferences - in the previous round, that says something about how ready she is. I'm guessing her vast experience (she's 28 y.o.) played a role in that match too. Being a player that prefers fast surfaces, she is definately a type of opponent that'll suit Donna's game. She is not very tall (1,70 m), so she probably doesn't have a lethal serve, but she must have something good if she reached top 60 at one point. Somehow, however, I believe that a repeat of today's performance by Donna could see her win even that match. She must be tired, no doubt about that, but her matches all finished in straight sets and she usually doesn't have problems with fitness.

So who knows, Donna doesn't seem able to stop with the surprises this week, so we might be heading for another one. What a week it's turned out to be already. Hope she can end it in a nice fashion.

Good luck Donna!

[TeamUla]

From Tashkent website:


Sixteen year old Croatian Donna Vekic is the new star on the horizon, her game defies her age , making it to her first ever WTA semifinal of a Tour event she displayed superlative playing abilities knocking out three top 100 players so far.

Vekic who started the year playing $25K challengers, suddenly find herself in the middle of spotlight extending her career record to 35 wins and 8 losses this year.
Vekic , showed her confidence while talking to Sunder Iyer of the Tashkent Open Media in her first Interview of her career at a WTA event.

Q. About your match today ?

"Reaching the semifinals at a WTA tour event has not sunk in yet ", I’m happy that I played very well . I went into the match with a lot of confidence . I went for every ball and happy to have won against a top 100 player for three days in a row now

Q. Coming into the event at Tashkent as qualifier and now a semifinalist ?

Actually I’m happy that I got to play the qualifiers , I had the feeling of the courts and every match helped me to get better. My aim is to play every match better than the last one. I don’t care if I lose too, because I learn from the matches I loose. I have worked hard this year and hard work pays off

Q. You have already made 130 points and its going to be big jump in your young career?

I try not to think about all this , and if you think too much one may lose focus , All I want is to play well and do well .

Q. Your journey from Challengers to WTA tour has been like dream , when so many struggle to get here ?

Like I said for every different player , things are different , it is a different game . For me It’s going to the court and doing my best , whatever is the tournament . I have great coach and I just follow what he has planned for me

Q. Yes as a junior will you have tournament restrictions due to your age ?

I leave it to my coach , he is a great guy and he will plan out the right schedule for me , the only thing for me is to focus

Q. How has been the journey from the junior level to the professional level?

I stopped playing juniors after I lost in the junior quarterfinals at Wimbledon , I decided that my junior tennis was over and decided to concentrate on the senior circuit . It is totally a different ball game , I felt I adjusted more to the senior level and have been comfortable.

Q . At 16 years , players are enjoying life on and off court but you seemed to be different and determined ?

I love tennis , and I don’t think like a 16 year old. In tennis one has to grow fast and I think I have matured fast . I love tennis and want to be playing . I have to physically and mentally get stronger and focus on developing my game. The aim I have set up is probably play at a Grand Slam soon but firstly get into the top 150.

[TimeyWimey]

^great attitude, i don't think tashkent and whatever 25k look very different to her now

[ajmo!]

she doesnt even know this will put her in top 150
great work by coach

[ma re]

Really great attitude, it was also interesting to see her upset about some lost points eventhough she wasn't trailing in terms of result. Shows how motivated she is and how much she expects of herself.

What a journey this is turning out to be...

- in Summer of 2010 she was playing her very first professional tournament
- in Summer of next year she won her first professional title (Chiswick 10k)
- in Spring of 2012 she won her first non-futures title (Bangalore 25k)

...and now she's in her first WTA semifinal already. Incredible.

[paulmara]

Donna Vekic
Another unbelievable win over a great player Jovanovski Bojana, (SRB) 6-4, 6-4. Really happy that you guys could watch my match online on the WTA website and share my success with me. I hope to get some rest before my semi-final match tomorrow!

Originally Posted by PainfulTruth

jeez so many pictures! They really care about Donna's marketing. Who has taken em?

There are many photos of her.

[networthy]

Really amazing that barely over a year ago Donna was playing $10Ks--and was unseeded

[TimeyWimey]

surprised still not a featured article about Donna on wtatennis.com

[xcrtbckhnd]

Just got home and saw the result!!!! Incredible!!!!

[BlueTrees]

The livestream link isn't working today! Donna held first game 1-0*

I got a Donna avatar for the match

[ma re]

The match is about to start folks!

(I almost missed it cause for some reason I added 3 hours to the local time instead of the other way around; sorry if I confused someone else - wasn't intentional)

[Dan_Doe]

Donna vs Birnerova is on and Donna is already having break points.

Originally Posted by BlueTrees

The livestream link isn't working today! Donna held first game 1-0*

I got a Donna avatar for the match

It's working for me
http://lsh.lshunter.tv/static/popups...382301360.html

[BlueTrees]

Here's a link! http://www.thefirstrow.eu/watch/1404...-tashkent.html