“I thought I was going to die in the third set” – Vekic reveals pain in final set and after
Playing her fifth three-set match of the tournament, Vekic said she was in a lot of pain in the final set of the semi-final
Donna Vekic, Wimbledon 2024
Image Credit: Gepa / Panoramic
The physical and emotional challenges that came during the two-hour, 51-minute semi-final on Centre Court at Wimbledon on Thursday were there for all to see. But no one could sum up what it might have felt like during the third set of the longest women’s semi-final in Wimbledon history as well as Donna Vekic.
The Croatian was defeated by Italy’s Jasmine Paolini 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (10-8) in an epic semi-final that brought out the best in both players.
“I thought I was going to die in the third set. I had so much pain in my arm, in my leg. It was not easy out there, but I will recover,” a tearful Vekic said in her post-match conference on Thursday.
Deep in the third set, Vekic was in tears on court and told the press that she broke down because she was in a lot of pain. “I was more crying because I had so much pain, I didn’t know how I could keep playing. But somehow, I don’t know… It was a tough, tough match. I believed that I could win until the end. She played some amazing tennis. All congrats to her. She definitely deserved it.”
My team tells me that I can be proud of myself. It’s tough right now.
Donne Vekic after her loss in the Wimbledon semi-finals
Vekic, who has now lost three of her four career matches against Paolini, credited her Italian opponent for her play. “She’s moving really well. She’s aggressive. You gave a short ball, and you just have to keep going. She doesn’t have the best serve, but she’s serving well enough. Yeah, I felt like also in the third set she was really returning well.”
Playing in her first career Grand Slam semi-final, the 28-year-old Croatian said it would take a couple of days for her to see things in perspective, but for now admitted that it was tough to see the positive side of things.
“My team tells me that I can be proud of myself. It’s tough right now. It’s really tough. For sure I will need to take couple of days to see everything. I don’t know, it’s tough to be positive right now. It was so close. I had a lot of chances.”
