February 11, 2021 - Donna Vekić will play in the 3rd round of the Australian Open for the second time in her career!
The 24-year-old from Osijek made it past last year's Roland Garros' semifinalist in the 2nd round, Argentine Nadia Podoroska (WTA-45) - 6:2, 6:2.
In a match that lasted only 62 minutes, Donna dominated from the very beginning - in both sets, she quickly took a 4:1 lead, and she kept that advantage without any problems until the end. During the match, she achieved four aces with a first-serve percentage of 61 percent and took advantage of six of the eight break points.
It was their second meeting (US Open qualifiers in 2016) and Donna's first victory. To enter the round of 16, Donna will play against Estonian Kaia Kanepi (WTA-65), who knocked out 4th seed defending champion Sofia Kenin in the 2nd round.
Borna Ćorić suffered a shocking loss in the 2nd round of the Australian Open. Croatia's best tennis player was unexpectedly defeated by the world's 192nd best tennis player, American Mackenzie McDonald - 6:4, 6:2, 4:6, 6:4.
Borna struggled from the beginning. McDonald had a 2-0 lead in sets after 64 minutes of play, and Borna had only one tie-break (in the second game of the 2nd set) until the beginning of the third set, which went unused.
However, at the end of the third set (10th game), Borna came back for 2:1 in sets. Though when a possible turnaround was expected, Borna struggled in the fifth game of the fourth set, which the American eventually used to advance to the 3rd round and his best result in Melbourne. Borna recorded 17 aces during the match with a first-serve percentage of 67%.
Nikola Mektić and Mate Pavić reached their ninth consecutive victory in 2021 on Wednesday. The second-placed Croatian duo advanced to the 2nd round of the Australian Open after defeating Taiwanese player Yen-Hsun Lu and American player Sam Querrey - 7:6 (4), 6:3.
Their opponents in the 2nd round are Americans Mackenzie McDonald and Tommy Paul, against whom they will play on Friday.
Recall Marin Čilić and Petra Martić were eliminated from the Australian Open in the first round.
Source: HTS
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