Donna Vekic used the word “crazy” to describe her Monterrey final match against Caroline Garcia. On Sunday, No 3 seed Vekic defeated top-seeded Garcia 6-4 3-6 7-5 to win her first title of the year in Monterrey. So far this season, Vekic is 14-2.
“It was a crazy match until the end, [Garcia] was playing so well, playing so deep. I was trying to win as many points as I could. It was not easy, but I’m really happy to win. It’s been a great start of the year for me.
If the title didn’t come now, I believe that it would have come soon. So I’ve been playing good tennis, and I just need to keep working hard and hopefully stay healthy, and I’m sure I will keep having good results,” Vekic said after beating Garcia, per the WTA website.
How Vekic defeated Garcia?
Vekic got off to a very good start to the match, earning the first break in the third game. In the 10th game – when Vekic was serving for the first set – Garcia had her first break points but Vekic saved the Frenchwoman’s three consecutive break points to close out the opener.
After winning the first set, Vekic also started the second set with an early break and a 2-0 lead. Down by a set and a break, Garcia refused to quit as she earned back-to-back breaks to win five games in a row and take a 5-2 lead in the second set.
Garcia missed out on a set point on Vekic’s serve in the eighth game but served out for the second set in the following game. At the start of the third set, Vekic saved four break points in the first game. In the seventh game, Vekic saved four more break point chances.
After saving a total of eight break point chances, Vekic broke Garcia in the 12th game, when the Frenchwoman was serving to stay in the match.
