Vekic is Tabbed as a Star of the Future

Written by: Staff on 18th January 2013

Vekic is Tabbed as a Star of the Future |

Donna Vekic, the Australian Open’s youngest player, only survived into the second round of the year’s initial Grand Slam event but the more experienced members of the women’s tennis fraternity expect to see the 111th ranked 16 year-old Croatian make an impression during the coming months and years.

Vekic is still restricted from playing anything approaching a full schedule by the WTA’s Age Eligibility Rules but former world no.1 Caroline Wozniacki was impressed by the youngster during their second round encounter and said: “I believe that we’re going to see a lot of her in the future.”

Wozniacki was forced to play some of her very best tennis to win 6-1,6-4 after Vekic beat the Czech Republic’s 66th ranked and vastly more experienced Andrea Hlavackova for the loss of only three games in the intial round.

Vekic, who reached the final of last year’s Tashkent Open, expects to contest the main draws of the three other majors this year and Wozniacki thinks big things await the girl based in England and coached David Felgate, who previously worked with top ten players Tim Henman on the men’s tour and Nicole Vaidisova on the women’s.

“She’s a very tall girl and she’s young,” said Wozniacki, currently ranked the world’s tenth best player. “She’s going to improve a lot over the next few years still. I definitely saw a lot of potential in her. I knew that I had to put the pressure on her from the beginning.”

Vekic admitted to an element of nerves at encountering an opponent she had watched so many times on television but said: “I felt like I belonged on a Grand Slam court and that’s good. I think that I will soon be playing top players like Caroline on a regular basis and the prospect does not frighten me.

“It’s not as easy for a 16 year-old to break through now as it was a while ago. Tennis is a much more physical sport than it was a few years ago and there’s also a need for a lot of mental strength. But I am prepared to work very hard to achieve.”

©Daily tennis news wire

Topics: Australian Open, Donna Vekic, Grand Slam, grandslam, news, Sports, Tashkent Open, Tennis News, Wta