Croatian tennis star Donna Vekic dazzled in an Indian dress during her trip to the country. She also visited Mumbai and the Himalayas to recharge her batteries before kicking off her pre-season preparations for the 2024 WTA tour season.
The 27-year-old is admittedly a fashion enthusiast. She also began her independent line, "Donna Sport", with Uomo Sport in January 2023.
Against that background, Donna Vekic couldn't afford to miss out on exploring Indian fashion. She uploaded a short video of her donning a pink Indian lehenga and choli, visibly enamored by the elegant dress.
The Croatian also made an excursion to the Gateway of India in Mumbai, before going north towards the Himalayas. She took multiple snaps at both locations and documented them on her Instagram handle, suggesting that her "recharge" was going according to plan.
"Recharging…," she wrote, followed by emojis of plants and fruits.
She also poked fun at her good friend Ajla Tomljanovic, jokingly insisting that the Aussie looks like a monkey.
"@ajlatom is that you?" she wrote, followed by a monkey emoji.
Vekic stayed at Ananda in the Himalayas and thanked the hotel for their hospitality on her Instagram handle.
"@anandainthehimalayas for the best reset and recharge possible," she wrote, followed by two emojis.
Donna Vekic went from being outside the top 100 to being ranked 23rd in nearly a year
Donna Vekic, 23rd in the WTA rankings, enjoyed a somewhat good season this year. The Croat put together a 29-20 win-loss record, the highlights of which include winning the 2023 Monterrey Open and finishing as the runner-up at the 2023 German Open.
Vekic had a great start to her year, reaching the quarterfinals at the Australian Open. However, her season dwindled as it approached its final third; the 27-year-old lost 10 of her last 13 matches, including two back-to-back defeats at the recently concluded WTA Elite Trophy.
While the World No. 23 would likely not be satisfied with how her 2023 WTA tour season ended, she can take pride in how far she has come in the last year.
Having undergone knee surgery in 2021, which put her on the sidelines for nearly six months, Vekic had a run-in with a foot injury at the beginning of last year. She subsequently went on another hiatus, causing her ranking to dip outside the top 100.
Donna Vekic, however, refused to be bogged down by her misfortune. She made a return to the women's top 50 thanks to her runner-up finish at the 2022 San Diego Open. She has only gone from strength to strength since then and is close to matching her career-high ranking of 19.