Vekic levels H2H, to face Noskova in the R16.
One week after losing to her in Berlin, Paris Olympics silver medalist Donna Vekic defeated reigning champion Diana Shnaider at the 2025 WTA Bad Homburg Open on Monday. The 28-year-old, who lost in three sets to her Russian counterpart in last year’s Bad Homburg final, earned some sweet redemption in the Round of 32. She will now face Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic.
Vekic has been struggling to gather momentum in 2025, and is yet to reach a quarterfinal so far. With this dominant win, the Croatian powerhouse equals the head-to-head against Shnaider to 2-2. While the 21-year-old Russian has defeated Vekic in straight sets on a solitary occasion, the reverse is also true after Monday’s thrashing. Vekic will be hoping to keep up the good work with a deep run in order to ensure a comfortable seeding at Wimbledon.
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Vekic started the match on the front foot, and her movement looked much more assured than the week prior at the German capital. She managed to find a great rhythm on first and second serves – serving 5 aces and winning 75% first serve points. Coming to the second serve, an improvement of 64% points won as compared to 33% last week ensured a quick turnaround for the 2024 Wimbledon semifinalist.
Surprisingly, it was Vekic who faced more break points during the course of the encounter. The Croat saved 4/4 threats faced on her serve, and produced a 100% success rate in break point conversion on Shnaider’s delivery. The Russian World No. 12 lacked the composure when it mattered most – resulting in the 6th seed getting knocked out and dropping vital ranking points.
The forehand was particularly on-song for Vekic, as she sealed both sets with a winner of that wing. Last week, the former Top-20 player lost 62-year-old American and former US Open finalist Pam Shriver, who was her coach. Shriver called it quits on the partnership citing personal difficulties and challenges off-court. Under the former doubles World No. 1, Vekic reached the final four in Wimbledon and captured a silver medal at the Paris Olympics.
“It has been a challenging year, therefore I need to lean even more into my community and my family’s well-being,” Shriver revealed on social media. A resident of Brentwood in Los Angeles, she had to evacuate her home during the destructive California wildfires in early 2025. She also had her Grand Slam trophies stolen during the saga.
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An International Tennis Hall of Famer, the 22-time Grand Slam doubles champion described her time with Vekic as “one of the best experiences in 50-plus years in tennis.” Now, Donna Vekic will begin a new journey in her tennis career.
