The tennis season is never a stroll. It’s a grind shaped by tricky courts, unpredictable conditions, and a calendar that never lets up. Few know that better than Donna Vekic. After winning silver at the 2024 Olympics, Croatia’s first-ever women’s singles medal, she carried that momentum into 2025. A title still eludes her, but Vekic impressed early with a fourth-round run at the Australian Open and a gritty Round-of-16 finish in Madrid, where she outlasted Emma Navarro. Consistency dipped late in the season with a tough early loss to Belinda Bencic in Wuhan. Now, heading into Chennai, another setback left many concerned.

Vekic got her Chennai Open campaign rolling on Wednesday against home favorite Vaishnavi Adkar at the WTA 250 event. The Croatian breezed through the opening set 6-1 but hit trouble early in the second after a long medical delay. Sitting courtside, she had her vitals checked and even had blood taken before being treated to some chocolate to perk her up.

Soon enough, she was back on court with the score locked at 1-1. She looked determined to finish the job under sticky Chennai conditions that have tested plenty of players. Matches had only resumed after two days of suspension caused by Cyclone Montha, and the humidity hasn’t made things easier.

The heat wasn’t just coming from the tennis. The city served up a sticky evening that felt more like a sauna than a stadium. Temperature: around 30°C. Humidity: a suffocating 83%, pushing the RealFeel to 38°C. Add 34 km/h wind gusts and a dew point of 27°C, and you get a recipe for pure exhaustion.

Cyclone Montha’s tantrum gave organizers a hard time, keeping matches off the schedule until the skies finally cooperated. The humid air and heavy clouds tested every player’s stamina and focus. It’s no surprise Donna Vekic needed a medical timeout. Even Francesca Jones couldn’t finish her match and had to retire.

The chaos began earlier in the week when relentless rain wiped out all matches on Monday. “Actually, we are quite okay because when you have a draw of 32, we need only five days (one round per day). Of course, the players who are playing doubles and singles will have to play two matches (daily),” said tournament director Hiten Joshi.

While Donna won the match against Adkar, fighting through fatigue to reach the round of 16 with a 6-1, 6-2 score, the big question remains. Can she take on her next opponent with the same energy? She’s put her best foot forward despite setbacks all season. Just earlier this month, she made some interesting changes to her coaching team.

Donna Vekic speaks about what motivates her to keep going

Speaking to tennis.com on October 6, the Croatian was honest about her frustrations. “I was very disappointed with the clay season,” she said. “Every year, it kills me. Every year, I give a little bit more, and it doesn’t give back! I mean, I did win a medal on clay, so maybe that’s enough for the rest of my life on clay. But that kind of drained me.”

A year earlier, she had soared on both sides of the Channel, reaching her first Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon and collecting that Olympic silver after beating Coco Gauff and Marta Kostyuk. At the time, she wondered if it was a new gear or her defining moment.

Now ranked around No. 78, she has shaken up her coaching team again, searching for steady form. “Now that I have a medal, I feel like I’ve made it. If I don’t win anything else, it’ll be fine,” she said last summer. “But it definitely motivated me even more, not just the medal but the Wimbledon semifinals. Getting that close to a final showed me I can do it.”

Her rise back to the Top 20 had come under Pam Shriver, who joined her camp during the 2022 San Diego Open, the same week Vekic reached the final. She later partnered with Sascha Bajin at the end of 2024, but both coaches were gone by midseason. Now outside the Top 70 and entering the last Slam of the year without a coach, she’s trying to trust her process. Now, heading into the round of 16 to take on Sahaja Yamalapalli, will she be able to use that motivation into a deep run at the WTA 250?