By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday October 31, 2021
Donna Vekic marched past Denmark's Clara Tauson to claim her first title since 2017 at the Courmayeur Ladies Open.
Photo Source: Courmayeur Open
Former World No.19 Donna Vekic had returned to the podium at a WTA event for the first time since 2017. The Croatian defeated Denmark’s Clara Tauson, 7-6(3), 6-2 to book the Courmayeur Ladies Open title in Italy.
The 25-year-old has had a down season, but she’s finishing on a high after pushing past the talented teen who was riding a nine-match indoor winning streak and bidding for her third title of 2021.
Vekic hammered 11 aces and won nearly half of her return points against the Dane, breaking serve five times on ten opportunities.
The victory was extra special for Vekic who had to have knee surgery after this year’s Australian Open, where she reached the fourth round. She did not return to the tour until May at Roland Garros and had only won consecutive main draw matches twice on tour this year prior to this week.
“It’s been a very tough year for me,” she said to her team. “I had surgery this year. You all supported me from the toughest moments to this day – this trophy is for all of you.”
It all clicked for her in Courmayeur, where she raced through five rounds without dropping a single set.
Tauson, who had won her last two matches from a set down, including a dramatic victory on Saturday over Liudmila Samsonova, where she saved five match points, rallied from 5-2 down in the opener to force a tiebreak.
But Vekic answered the bell, reeling off the first six points of the breaker before sealing the set on her fourth set point.
Tauson needed a medical timeout after the first set, and she had her blood pressure checked and was given some medication, but the Dane could not get her level high enough to match Vekic in set two.
The Croatian raced out to a 5-1 lead and closed out her victory in one hour and 46 minutes.