Donna Vekic couldn’t contain her emotions during a hard-fought three-hour battle with Jasmine Paolini at Wimbledon, with the Italian winning 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (10-8).
A dramatic third set saw Vekic react with heartbreak after every point he lost, openly crying even though the match was still well in his favor.
After Vekic missed a shot and Paolini took the lead, the Croatian tennis player looked at her corner and began to sob. The Express reported.
Despite the emotional moment, she regained her composure and was able to win the next game to force a tiebreak, which Paolini won to advance to the Wimbledon final at the All England Club on Saturday.
Vekic has been battling an arm injury that likely contributed to his emotional outburst in the third set.
“I thought I was going to die in the third set. My arms and legs were in a lot of pain. It was not an easy match,” Vekic told reporters after the match. According to AFP.
Thursday’s match was the longest women’s semifinal in Wimbledon history, with Vekic finishing six matches in three sets throughout the tournament.
In her loss to Paolini on Thursday, she made 57 unforced errors throughout the match.
“The pain was so bad I didn’t know how to keep playing and I was crying,” she said.
Vekic had considered retirement after losing in the third round at the French Open this summer, a sign of declining motivation among players.
But it’s unclear where she goes from here, and she became emotional as she tried to find the positives in her game.
The press conference host had to intervene as she began to burst into tears. The Express reported..
“The team tells me I can be proud of myself,” Vekic said. “It’s tough right now. It’s really tough. Of course it’ll take a few days to process it all. So yeah, I don’t know. It’s hard to be positive right now. We were so close. We had so many chances.”
