Donna Vekic finished the AEGON Nottingham Open with a thrilling victory Sunday afternoon. The 20 year old captured her second WTA title with a fight to Johanna Konta who dealt with a frustrating tail end of a three set fight that gave the Croatian a 2-6, 7-6(3), 7-5 win at the Nottingham Tennis Centre. It was the first grass court title for Vekic and one she won’t soon forget being a set down and pulling off a major fight.
The top ranked Brit was just one match away from shattering a 40-year-old drought of British women winning championships in the United Kingdom. Konta stood within reach of her third title this year and a fifth since July of last year. After winning Stanford, the 26-year-old found herself against the Croatian in the second round at Cincinnati beating her in straight sets.
With the number one seed still flawless in the tournament, she’d hope to have similar results and be the first to show dominance on the grass courts in its opening week. For Vekic, the nerves would be high in a WTA final after enduring a 2 hour and 50-minute battle with Lucie Safarova in Saturday’s semifinal. Her ability to overcome a two-point deficit in a final tiebreaker gave her just as good a chance to land her second career title.
Konta opened the match with a strong break that rattled the nerves of Vekic playing in her first final since 2014. She fell a second game before her chance to hold proved successful in the third. The lone win was all she could muster as the Brit began to attack the returns of Vekic on court. She started with attacking the second serve of the 20-year-old who struggled with her returns as well. Despite the tough run on offense, she saved four break points against Konta in the fifth to maintain a game between herself and leveling in the set.
The margin remained that way and grew further in favor of the world number eight as she continued to fire away at Vekic who couldn’t gain any consistency going further. Her struggles only led Konta to widen the gap and play out the set with an average serve near 75 percent. Vekic was beaten down in the final four games where she finished with under 50 percent of points won and 7 of 24 on the returns. With the major downfall, it would take a lot of effort to recover and bring some challenging moments to Konta.
She came out with a newfound service game that was just about flawless against Konta to start the second set. Vekic endured a service hold from the Brit but found her niche come together in the third with another service hold. The fourth was where the set turned into a game changer for Vekic as Konta gave away points to help her open the margin. During the break, both players took time to talk with their coaches where they were both told to stay aggressive and be the strong force on court. Konta took it very seriously and leveled the set at three all with her service hold.
It stayed that way through eight until Vekic took point to lead in the ninth with her chance to break Konta and win the set. Konta started with a winner to get on the board but got into the thick of things with the 20-year-old. She forced deuce briefly but the number one seed got out of trouble to win her fifth and send the set to its distance. Vekic was first to act with a near shot at a love service until she committed an error on the return keeping Konta alive. The Brit had her frustrations reach high levels as she lost points on bad calls from the umpire as it hit the line but dust from the chalk gave Juan Zhang the impression that it was out. She ended up losing the game and was in danger of the Croatian sweeping the rest of the set.
She had Konta on the edge but blew a return that forced deuce and an open chance for the number one seed. She gained the critical game point and forced her way into the first tiebreaker that Konta played in the tournament. Vekic has faced two so far and had a shot at being the stronger. She earned the opening point but was stolen for one on Konta’s lob that Vekic returned into the net showing frustration in the aftermath.
The 20-year-old brushed it off and found herself in a tie through the next five games. It was the seventh point that the Croatian took off and reached set point for a second time. A final forehand error from Konta ended her run at a straight sets finish ending her consecutive straight sets streak.
The third began as another good sign for Vekic and a constant frustration over the baseline for Konta. A ball that landed near the point was once again called wrong leading Konta to make her case known for Zhang. Despite her pleas to have the umpire look at the condition, the set went forward with the Croatian taking a 2-0 lead. Konta knew that she couldn’t let the set get away from her any longer and held service in the third getting on the board. She got out a new racket and watched Vekic deliver a love service in the fourth.
It was the moment that the Croatian’s high point began to going into a fall as Konta’s offense came together to earn her a climb back into the set. Her fans in the stands cheered her on during points that eventually helped her level the score at three all. The lead changed in the seventh with her third win in a row that had her on the verge of taking back control. During the break, Nick Horvat came out to speak to Vekic in order to keep her mindset together and keep her in the fight.
She did exactly that but as the ninth came into play, the winner of it was going to go either way. For the number one seed, her service hold gave her a shot at ending the long match and taking off with the title. Vekic was in the hot seat on serve in the tenth trying to stay in the set. Konta handed her two points on unforced errors that opened the door for another press into deeper territory. Vekic was first to take control after the 11th and showed a better handling of the game. She served for the title flustering the returns of Konta who was having problems that had to be solved quickly.
Her responses in the rallies helped her get into a tie on the score but her opponent was the better one in the end. Vekic reached championship point where a three-shot rally ended with a ball landing long of the line ending the 2 hour and 29-minute bout. “It’s pretty amazing winning my first grass court title is my second overall WTA title so I’m really happy,” Vekic said after the match.
“Jo played amazing,” she said. “She’s having an amazing year amazing last couple of years, but I was just trying to focus on myself try to serve as good as I can and try to be aggressive which was just not easy against her. That one game was insane.”
When asked what her plans were for celebrating the title Vekic gave a strong response for being old enough to be an adult. “Well I’m going to drink this bottle of champagne with my team I think.”
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