When Donna Vekic beat Lulu Sun at Wimbledon last year to reach her first Grand Slam semi-final, she walked to the edge of the court and covered her hand with her face in disbelief. The emotions soon set in, and she was in floods of tears during her on-court interview.
To reach a first Major semi-final is a milestone for any player, but it was an especially significant moment for Croatian tennis star Vekic, who spent six years living and training in London, and is something of an honorary Brit.
The 28-year-old went on to lose to No. 7 seed Jasmine Paolini in the semis, but after her heartbreak of getting so close last year, Vekic has made it no secret that it's her dream.
"I mean, there's not a lot more space to go further, so it's just to play finals or win the title at Wimbledon, which is the ultimate goal of, I think every tennis player," the world No. 22 told Express Sport at the start of the grass swing.
"But whenever I'm on grass, I feel good, I'm hitting the ball good, and for me, it's always just to get to spend as much time on grass, to play as many matches and, enjoy as much as I can because the season is very short."
Vekic carried her momentum into the Olympic Games just a few weeks later, seamlessly switching back to the clay at Stade Roland Garros and winning silver. While that came as a surprise, her efforts at Wimbledon didn't.
She continued: "I've always loved playing on grass and, actually, the year before, I lost to [Marketa] Vondrousova.
"She went on to win the title, and even then, the year before I was playing so well, I was doing so good, and I've always felt good on grass, so for me, it wasn't really such a big surprise at Wimbledon.
"What was more surprising is winning a medal on clay. That was just kind of, I guess, riding my confidence wave from Wimbledon, not thinking too much, and yeah, I just went for it."
Vekic's love for the surface is no surprise. The four-time title winner, who now mostly splits her time between Monaco and Croatia, spent years living in Chiswick. And she still feels at home whenever she returns for the grass events.
"I definitely feel like at home here, I have so many friends, I know London inside and out. So it's probably for sure one of the reasons why I feel so good here," she explained.
"I always said I'm going to live in London after my career, so let's see. Actually, I went to Oxfordshire for one night. So I like to go outside the city as well, the British countryside is so beautiful. But in the city, I like all the nice areas, Mayfair, Knightsbridge, good shopping, good restaurants."
Vekic is already planning plenty of things for her retirement, not just moving back to London. The world No. 22 has plenty of business interests away from the court, from candles to clothing.
