The 21st century
Croatia · born Osijek, 1996 · Wimbledon semi-finalist 2024 · Nottingham and Queen's champion
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2
Grass titles, Nottingham 2017 and Queen's 2026
SF
Best Wimbledon result, 2024
2h 51m
Longest women's semi-final at Wimbledon
No. 17
Career-high ranking, January 2025
Born in Osijek on 28 June 1996, Vekić won her first WTA title in Kuala Lumpur in 2014, beating the top seed Dominika Cibulková in the final at 17. Further titles followed at Nottingham in 2017, Courmayeur in 2021 and Monterrey in 2023. Her breakthrough at the majors came late: a first Grand Slam semi-final at Wimbledon in 2024, then a silver medal in singles at the Paris Olympics a few weeks later, where she lost the final to Zheng Qinwen 6-2, 6-3. She reached a career-high ranking of No. 17 in January 2025. In 2026 she won Queen's as a lucky loser, then lost in the first round of Wimbledon to Ashlyn Krueger.
| Wimbledon singles | Fourth round 2018; third round 2023; semi-final 2024; second round 2025; first round 2026 |
|---|---|
| Wimbledon 2024 | Beat the qualifier Lulu Sun in the quarter-final, then lost to Jasmine Paolini 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8) in 2 hours 51 minutes, the longest women's singles semi-final in Wimbledon history |
| Grass titles | Nottingham 2017, beating the top seed Johanna Konta 2-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5; Queen's 2026, beating Emma Raducanu 6-0, 7-6 (6) |
| Grass finals lost | Nottingham 2019 to Caroline Garcia, after being a set and a break up; Bad Homburg 2024 to Diana Shnaider |
| Wimbledon 2026 | Lost in the first round to Ashlyn Krueger 6-3, 6-7 (3), 4-6 |
| Nottingham | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Women's singles | |
| Queen's Club | ||
| 2026 | Women's singles | |
Leading grass titles only: the grass majors, tour-level grass events since 1968 and the leading grass championships before 1968. † single source; ‡ sources disagree. Roll of champions
"I was more crying because I had so much pain, I didn't know how I could keep playing."
The person behind the player.
Nottingham 2017
Unseeded and ranked 70th, she lost the first set of the final to the top seed Johanna Konta, then won 2-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5 after 2 hours 31 minutes. It was her second WTA title, more than three years after the first, which she had won at 17.
Source: Sky SportsWimbledon 2024 · Semi-final
She cried during the third set of her semi-final against Jasmine Paolini and explained afterwards that it was physical. "I had so much pain in my arm, in my leg," she said. "It's really tough to be positive right now. It was so close." Her team, she added, told her she could be proud of herself.
Source: beIN SportsOsijek 2025
With her family she built free public courts in her home town, each on a different Grand Slam surface, one of them made to match Wimbledon's grass. Martina Hingis, Mary Pierce, Iva Majoli and Marion Bartoli came to play when the set was completed in July 2025. "I hope that on one of these courts, a child will fall in love with this sport as I did," Vekić said.
Source: WTAQueen's 2026
Ranked 76th, she lost in qualifying and entered the main draw only when Marta Kostyuk withdrew. Five wins later she had the title, taking the first set of the final against Emma Raducanu 6-0 and saving two set points in the second. It was her first title since 2023 and lifted her to No. 32.
Source: Tennis MajorsOff court
In 2021, while still on tour, she founded DNNA, a home fragrance brand. It sells beeswax candles and reed diffusers, and a percentage of its sales goes to bee conservation in Croatia. The business sits alongside the free public courts she and her family have built in Osijek since 2021.
Source: WikipediaFree membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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