Donna Vekic triumphed in the most significant match of her career, securing her first Grand Slam semifinal berth in her 43rd major tournament appearance by defeating qualifier Lulu Sun with scores of 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 at Wimbledon on Tuesday.
Vekic, the 28-year-old Croatian, becomes the second woman from her country to make it to the semifinals at the All England Club since Mirjana Lucic in 1999.
Sun, a 23-year-old University of Texas alumna, made her Wimbledon debut this year and is the first New Zealander to reach the quarterfinals in the Open era.
Despite committing five double-faults while serving for the second set at 5-3, which allowed Sun to break, Vekic immediately broke back, leading to a decisive set that she dominated.
Vekic is set to face either the 7th seed Jasmine Paolini or the 19th seed Emma Navarro next.
Meanwhile, on Centre Court, the world No. 1 Jannik Sinner was up against the 5th seed Daniil Medvedev in a rematch of the Australian Open final, where Sinner claimed his first Grand Slam title in a five-set victory.
