Donna Vekic held her nerve superbly to overcome Kaia Kanepi 5-7 7-6(2) 6-4 in an absorbing third-round encounter at the 2021 Australian Open.
The Croatian, 24, had only won three of her last 11 matches coming into the first Grand Slam of the year. But she has produced winning tennis when it matters most on one of the biggest stages in the sport.
“I’m relieved and happy,” Vekic said, her voice cracking with emotion. “It was a tough match, saving match points. She was playing unbelievable the whole match. I had to fight to the end and I’m just happy to be through.”
It was a very even first set. Both players dominated their service games and they matched each other in the power stakes with some strong hitting during 11 consecutive holds that made it 6-5 to the Estonian.
Unfortunately for Vekic, she saved her worst game for the end of the set and it cost her dearly. She made three unforced errors to hand the decisive break to Kanepi.
Vekic fights back superbly
Vekic fell behind early in the second set too. She made a couple of unforced errors to allow Kanepi into her first service game. Then the Estonian produced a superb forehand to earn a break point and hit a forehand winner to seize it and open up a 2-0 lead.
The Croatian knew she had to raise her game. She held to love to keep the deficit to two games. Then she unleashed two searing forehand winners on her way to earning the break back she needed. When Kanepi hit a forehand long on break point, Vekic clenched her fist and cried, “Idemo!”, which means “Come on!” in Croatian.
In the next game, the Estonian hit a massive forehand to make it 15-30. But the Croatian responded well to win the next three points and level the set at 3-3.
Kanepi halted Vekic’s momentum with a commanding love hold. Then the World No.33 replied with a comfortable hold of her own.
The ninth game of the set was a real dogfight. The Estonian gifted the Croatian two break points with unforced errors but saved them well. Then Vekic hit a series of excellent shots to earn two more. However, Kanepi saved both by narrow margins and eventually held.
It was the Croatian’s turn to face the pressure in game ten. She saved a match point by producing a series of superb shots to set up a forehand winner. Then she secured the hold with a similar strike moments later.
Both players held comfortably to take it to a tie-break. And three unforced errors and a double fault from Kanepi enabled Vekic to establish a 5-1 lead.
The Croatian took full advantage. She hit an ace and then forced another error from the Estonian to level the match.
Vekic raises her game to make it through
After a sloppy opening game when she dropped her serve, Vekic raised her level. She hit two stunning winners as she broke back immediately. Then she applied constant pressure to Kanepi’s serve to outlast her in a long game and earn another break and a 3-1 lead.
The Estonian is a fighter though. She responded to the Croatian’s improvement by hitting three winners during yet another break of serve (the fourth in five games).
Order was restored when both players held serve twice to move the score along to 5-4. Then Vekic produced a series of excellent groundstrokes to earn her first match point.
Kanepi saved that one, but the Croatian earned another with a forehand winner and then seized victory with a powerful backhand.
Brady eases through to last 16
Jennifer Brady awaits Vekic in the fourth round. The American easily saw off qualifier Kaja Juvan 6-1 6-3.
The World No.24, who made a stunning career-best run to the US Open semi-final last year, has won all her matches in straight sets so far. However, she is yet to face a player ranked inside the top 80, so the World No.33 should provide her with a much sterner test.
Pegula continues her march by beating Mladenovic
Jessica Pegula continued her extraordinary run at the 2021 Australian Open with a dominant 6-2 6-1 victory over Kristina Mladenovic.
The American, 26, hit 21 winners during the clash and is in arguably the best form of her life. She will now take on fifth seed Elina Svitolina in her first-ever fourth-round match at a Grand Slam. And even if she loses, she will move up to a career-high ranking of 50 thanks to her wins so far.
