"What an honor" - Donna Vekic practices with Russian 'legend' Dinara Safina ahead of 2023 season

Donna Vekic recently shared photos of her practice session with former World No. 1 Dinara Safina.

Vekic is back on the tennis court in preparation for the 2023 season.

The Croatian took to Instagram to share photos of her practice session with Dinara Safina. She expressed her joy at being back on the court and said it was "an honor" to practice with the Russian.

“So happy to be back on court and what an honor to play with this legend of the game!!” wrote Donna Vekic on her Instagram.

Dinara Safina expressed her gratitude by commenting on the post.

“Thank you for letting me to hit with you. I hope I could handle the rhythm,” she wrote.

Dinara Safina comments on Vekic's Instagram post

Safina, who retired in 2014, won 12 singles titles and nine in doubles, including the 2007 US Open. She also has an Olympic silver medal to her name.

How Donna Vekic fared in 2022

Donna Vekic poses with her runner-up trophy at the 2022 San Diego Open

Donna Vekic was nominated for the WTA Comeback Player of the Year award alongside Serena Williams, Daria Saville, and Tatjana Maria.

After experiencing a rough 2021 season owing to injuries, Vekic began her 2022 season at the Australian Open but was unable to get past the first round, falling to Alison Riske-Amritraj 6-2, 6-2.

Her best performance of the season came at the San Diego Open, where she came through qualifying and ended up taking out four consecutive current or former top-10 players en route to the final (No. 7 Maria Sakkari, No. 22 Karolina Pliskova, No. 5 Aryna Sabalenka, No. 19 Danielle Collins).

She cracked the top 50, rising from No. 77 to No. 47, for the first time in 15 months following her run in San Diego. She has also reached the quarterfinals at three tournaments this year — the Trophee Lagardere, the Birmingham Classic, and the Tallinn Open.

Vekic's performance at the San Diego Open even impressed 18-time Grand Slam champion Chris Evert. Evert tweeted that it was wonderful to see the Croatian's hard work pay off.

"Congratulations to @DonnaVekic, she was on (fire) last week with consecutive wins over top players. So great to see her hard work paying off," Evert wrote.

Vekic was last seen in action at the Guadalajara Open, where she lost in the second round to Veronika Kudermetova. The 26-year-old concluded her 2022 season ranked 69 in the world with a 26-20 win-loss record.