By Richard Pagliaro | @TennisNow | Sunday, January 12, 2025
Photo: Cameron Spencer/Getty
Donnaan old man brought concern and intensity to the court for her Australian Open opener.
Those elements and her booming power helped lead Vekic to her first win of the season.
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Wimbledon 2024 semi-finalist Vekic was defeated Diane Parry 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the second round of the Australian Open for the eighth time.
Vekic spent the offseason training in Los Angeles and said afterward that her thoughts were with her coach, Pam Shriver, who is home in Southern California out of concern about the ongoing wildfires.
“It’s a very difficult situation for her. She’s at home in LA,” Vekic said of Shriver. “Her house is OK for now, but a lot of them have lost everything and it’s a terrible situation.
“We were doing our pre-season in LA this year, so we were there two weeks ago. So I really can’t believe what’s happening. We’re very sad that she’s not here with us, but yeah.”
In Shriver’s absence, coach Sasha is dyingwho previously worked with Naomi Osaka, Dayana Yastremska and Alycia Parks, is in Vekic’s corner. Veteran Vekic said that Bajin is bringing a lot of positive energy.
“A lot of intensity. A lot of intensity,” Vekic said of Baji. “Good energy. We had a really good pre-season. We worked really hard, so I was a little bummed to miss the first three games of the season. I was like, no, come on, we worked so hard. I trained so good.
“But for me, even if I lost today, it wouldn’t have changed much. I think he’s a great coach, he’s got a lot of experience and I hope we can have some good results together.”
