Donna Vekic just won't go away, and we love it

DONNA DIGS DEEP 💪

Donna Vekic defeats Marta Kostyuk 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(8) to reach the semifinals at the Paris Olympics 🤯 #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/rVveEModjG

— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) July 31, 2024

If you like a three-hour, topsy-turvy, momentum-swinging festival of forehands, then you really enjoyed watching Marta Kostyuk and Donna Vekic play their quarterfinal match today at the Paris Olympics. It was a dramatic and highly entertaining (including some dancing from Kostyuk) contest, and the final set was as good as it gets. The whole thing came down to a third set tiebreak, which Kostyuk led, 5-2, after saving match points and barely escaping the third set intact. But just when it seemed like the tide really had turned, Vekic turned things around yet again, and won this very fine match 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (8). 

Vekic achieved a career high just a few weeks ago when she reached the semifinals at Wimbledon. Now she's in the semifinals of the Olympic Games--quite a summer for the Croatian player. This was the second time today (well, maybe the third) that I had to endure the "I can't stand to see either of them lose" tension. Kostyuk is a beast, and I mean that in the best way possible, but--for all her creativity and endurance (she held a match point)--she couldn't make Vekic go away.

That match was the last match of the day, as if we hadn't already had enough drama on a Wednesday. Earlier, the great Angie Kerber saved three match points, but--though she came very close--she wasn't quite able to stop Zheng Qinwen's Olympic campaign. The Chinese star defeated Kerber 6-7, 6-4, 7-6 (6). This was Kerber's final match on the WTA tour, and she gave it her all, as she always has, for 21 years.

Danielle Collins was able to take a set off of top seed Iga Swiatek, but an abdominal injury forced her to retire in the third set. Swiatek advanced to the semifinals with a 6-1, 2-6, 4-1 victory.

And then there was Anna Karolina Schmiedlova. Again. Not content to take out just the Wimbledon runner-up (Jasmine Paolini), today she showed the exit to Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova, defeating her 6-4, 6-2. Schmiedlova has now beaten Katie Boulter, Beatriz Haddad Maia, Paolini, and Krejcikova in a truly stunning run. It will be big backhand to big forehand for her in the semifinals when she faces Vekic.

INCREDIBLE.

#67 Anna Karolina Schmiedlova (29yo), who beat Paolini in R3, defeats the Wimbledon champ and #10 Barbora Krejcikova 6-4, 6-2 to reach the #Paris2024 semifinals.

That's a big, big surprise and an incredible story. pic.twitter.com/8ZVO0gmaa8

— José Morgado (@josemorgado) July 31, 2024

 

Here is the singles semifinal draw:

Iga Swiatek (1) vs. Zheng Qinwen (6)
Anna Karoina Schmiedlova vs. Donna Vekic (13)