Wimbledon star who idolises Luka Modric broke down in tears and nearly quit tennis after cruellest defeat of her career
DONNA VEKIC walks alongside Croatian greats Luka Modric and Josko Gvardiol in her homeland.
Having reached the Wimbledon semi-finals and earned an Olympic silver medal last summer, the 29-year-old achieved hero status in the Balkan country.
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Vekic rubbed shoulders with Modric at the Laureus Awards back in April, while she has since joined Gvardiol in becoming an ambassador for luxurious fashion brand Mackage.
Hot on the heels of becoming the latest of her country's sporting icons, the 5ft 10in star enthusiastically told SunSport of Modric: "He's the biggest hero in Croatia.
"Everywhere around the world when they ask me where I'm from, I say 'Croatia' and they say 'ah, Modric'. Luka Modric is a great guy, Gvardiol is also amazing, playing for Man City.
'He was the one before me, now it's me and it's great company to be in.'
On the court, last summer was bittersweet for Vekic, having suffered the most heartbreaking defeat of her career following a blistering run to the Wimbledon semis.
In arguably the most memorable match of last year's tournament, the likeable star broke down in tears during the closing stages of her 2-6 6-4 7-6 defeat to Italy's Jasmine Paolini.
The loss made Vekic want to quit tennis for a while… but just weeks later she had brushed it off to win Olympic silver.
On the quick turnaround, Vekic said: 'I was lucky that the Olympics was so close to Wimbledon because if they weren't then I think I would have been done for a while. It was really heartbreaking.
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BBC's Wimbledon line-up in full
Presenters:
Clare Balding, Isa Guha, Qasa Alom, Gigi Salmon, Clare McDonnell, Steve Crossman
Commentators: Andrew Castle, Chris Bradnam, James Burridge, Naomi Cavaday, Matt Chilton, Andrew Cotter, Katharine Downes, Paul Hand, Abigail Johnson, Robbie Koenig, David Law, Nick Lester, Ronald Mcintosh, Alison Mitchell, Nick Mullins, Pete Odgers, Simon Reed, Candy Reid, Andy Stevenson, Russell Fuller, Jonathan Overend, Iain Carter, Sara Orchard, Maz Farookhi, Claire Thomas, James Gregg, Delyth Lloyd, Chris Dennis, Shourjo Sarkar, Shabnam Younus-Jewell
Pundits:
John McEnroe, Martina Navratilova, Billie Jean King, Pat Cash, Tracy Austin, Tim Henman, Annabel Croft, Joe Durie, Colin Fleming, Daniela Hantuchova, Dom Inglot, Anne Keothavong, Alicia Molik, Ryan Harrison, John Lloyd, Nick Monroe, Arvind Parmar, Louise Pleming, Sam Smith, Liz Smylie, Mel South, Todd Woodbridge, Jayant Mistry, Louise Hunt, Katie O'Brien, Kim Clijsters, Laura Robson, Naomi Broady, Mark Woodforde, Jeff Tarango, Leon Smith, Coco Vandeweghe, Greg Rusedski, Daniele Hantuchova, Cara Black, Marion Bartoli
'I went back to Croatia and tried to forget about it but everywhere I went people had been watching and would be like 'bad luck, bad luck' - but then the next question was 'how you doing for the Olympics?' and I was like 'Oh my God, really?'
'I didn't want to go - I was ill, I was injured, it was tough. But then when I got to Paris, the energy of the village, of other athletes from other sports really brought me up.'
Donna Vekic bursts into tears after 'insane' hawk-eye call in record-breaking Wimbledon semi-final
Now back in SW19 - 12 months on from her heartache - Vekic now believes that she can walk with the swagger of a tournament favourite.
'Coming on grass, no one will like to see me in the draw,' Vekic confidently told SunSport.
"Women's tennis is at such a high level now, everyone is playing such good tennis so really everyone has a chance to beat everyone and you have to be 100 per cent every match."
Vekic opens her Wimbledon campaign against Australia's Kimberly Birrell, and is a potential third round opponent for British No2 Katie Boulter.
Following her run in 2024, however, Vekic has her eyes on a far greater prize.
"Things came together last year, hopefully they will again this year and maybe I can go a little bit further," she confidently claimed.
When SunSport pointed out that any further would mean reaching the final, Vekic didn't shy away from her ambition, adding: "There's not much further, once you get so close to it you feel, you see that you are there, and that you can go for the title.
"I don't see why not."
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At one point, the band acknowledge that they – and likely most of tonight's audience – are now a decade older, so they ask them to jump along, but only if they want to. Of course, they do. The boisterous excitement from the crowd of thirtysomethings doesn't waver, through the urgent, full-bodied end of their discography (Latchmere, X-Ray, Marks to Prove It, etc) to the more quaint moments, like the sweetheart ditty Toothpaste Kisses, which is met with a rapturous singalong. As with any reunion, it's a shamelessly indulgent trip down memory lane – to the band's heyday, yes, but also to a significant time in British indie music more generally. Special guest Florence Welch joins them on stage for Love You Better and a rowdy performance of Dog Days Are Over. After closing with the punchy fan favourite Pelican, the band hug one another on stage. When they say that this show means the world to them, you can tell they mean it. Updated at 11.33pm BST 11.03pm BST 23:03 Ben Beaumont-Thomas To court us a little more, Olivia's cracked out her Union Jack pants for – paradoxically – All-American Bitch. She's also done the Flaming Lips thing of chucking out loads of massive white balls into the audience. Then it's into the second-best Olivia song: Good 4 U. This song features such a good actorly performance: the proper bunny boiler pressing her face against the double glazing to tell her ex about how she's really totally fine about their breakup. It's cartoonishly heightened and silly – but also there's real venom, and this is a definitely a story with two sides: what's this guy done? Then it's Get Him Back! and a ton of fireworks crackling over a wonderfully overwrought guitar solo. 'This is a dream come true,' she tells this jubilant crowd. 'Goodnight!' But it's not goodnight from us just yet – stick around for a load more reviews, pics and more. Updated at 11.13pm BST 11.00pm BST 23:00 Our photographer Alicia Canter has been down in the pit for Olivia Rodrigo and come back with some killer shots. 10.55pm BST 22:55 Ben Beaumont-Thomas Ooh, it's my fave Olivia song, Deja Vu. It sits right in the heart of the Venn diagram of her songwriting – bit of bruised heartbreak, bit of guitar bite, bit of dream-pop – and it's about such a specific horrifying situation: seeing your ex playing through the same cute things you did together, this time with a new partner. Which has the effect of retroactively cancelling them out for you and making you think: wait, who had they already done them with before me? And it's a dilemma that you might not have come across pre social media, but now romances are played out in public, these new weird horrors seep into culture. It's an example of how Rodrigo, not even out of her teens when she recorded this, is so perceptive about affairs of the heart. Updated at 10.56pm BST 10.47pm BST 22:47 Ben Beaumont-Thomas Jorja Smith is raving up a storm and doing some oo-a oo-a's, while Overmono have hit a relatively lower tempo zone, running through some tech-y reggaeton. And the Prodigy are keeping everything 100. 'We are the noise makers,' Maxim promises. 'Anyone brings as much noise as this? I'll retire … We're waking up the whole of England!' They build up Smack My Bitch Up from its constituent parts, adding gigantic cock-rock riffs on the way to that gleefully obnoxious vocal hook – demurely covered over for the BBC but with the crowd emphatically filling in. More pics from our Jonny here: Updated at 10.49pm BST 10.41pm BST 22:41 Ben Beaumont-Thomas Like Noah Kahan before her, Olivia is doing some shameless courting of us Brits. 'I love England so fucking much,' she says. 'It's bands like the Cure that first got me acquainted with England … I have so many things I love about England, I love pop culture, I love how nobody judges you for having a pint at noon, it's the best. I love English sweets, all the sweets from M&S, Colin the Caterpillar specifically.' Invoking Colin genuinely makes English people giddy. Pray continue. 'True story: I have had three sticky toffee puddings since coming to Glastonbury. And as luck would have it, I love English boys.' It's all teeing up So American, made from the inside jokes she had with an English lover. Updated at 10.45pm BST 10.29pm BST 22:29 Ben Beaumont-Thomas The special guests are coming out. With the Maccabees up on the Park – which I'm basically ignoring because life is too short – it's Florence Welch. AJ Tracey has come back out to join Jorja Smith. And with Olivia Rodrigo, it's Robert Smith from the Cure. 'He is perhaps the best songwriter to come out of England, he is a Glastonbury legend and a personal hero of mine,' she says. They launch into a sweet-natured and extra-melancholy duet of Friday I'm in Love, trading lines back and forth. Then they join together in a wonderful pairing for the climactic chorus, their voices so totally different and yet chiming together. 'The dads chaperoning 13 year old daughters properly doing their nut near us hahahaha', Alexis Petridis texts to me. Robert sticks around for another one: Just Like Heaven, in which he takes the lead on verse one, with Olivia taking verse two – she's more doleful and wary than the more romantic and caution-throwing Robert. The way they bring out new and different shades to these songs is one of the greatest treats of this year's festival. Updated at 10.37pm BST 10.28pm BST 22:28 Ben Beaumont-Thomas Olivia Rodrigo is just 22 years old, by the way – which puts her way up the league table of youngest headliners. Billie Eilish was just 20 when she did her own set in 2022, though as Ash reminded us during their set this weekend, actually it was them who were the very youngest when they were drafted in to replace Steve Winwood in 1997. Updated at 10.48pm BST
