By Chris Oddo | Sunday June 18, 2017
Donna Vekic battled from a set down to defeat Johanna Konta in the Nottingham final on Sunday.
Photo Source: Reuters
Donna Vekic earned her first title in over three years, spoiling the party of Johanna Konta, who was set to become the first British woman to win a title on home soil since 1975 at the Aegon Open in Nottingham.
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The 20-year-old Croatian battled from a set down to claim a 2-6, 7-6(3), 7-5 win over Konta—her first title since she won the Kuala Lumpur title as a 17-year-old in April of 2014.
The victory was also Vekic’s first Top 10 win since that same day in April of 2014 when she defeated then No.10 Cibulkova, and her second Top 10 win overall.
Konta took the opener without too much fuss, but Vekic quickly hit back in set two and despite failing to convert her first three set points she claimed the middle set on her fourth to take the tiebreaker, 7-3.
Vekic squandered an early break lead in set three but did not succumb to the pressure down the stretch. She broke for 6-5 and served the match out at 15 to clinch the victory in just under two hours and 30 minutes.
Konta drops to 3-2 lifetime in finals, and 2-1 in 2017. The top seed struck nine aces to six for Vekic, but was outhit at times from the baseline by the flat, high-risk groundstrokes of the Croatian.