It is grass court success into clay court class for
Donna Vekic as the Croat has dumped out one of the favourites for the
Olympic Games gold medal in
Coco Gauff. It was a drama filled match with Gauff at one point in tears over a dodgy line-call.
But it mattered little in Vekic's success as she saved three sets points en route to sealing a 7-6(7), 6-2 win and she could yet face Maria Sakkari, one of her best friends in the Quarter-Finals. She faces Marta Kostyuk shortly.
Vekic trailed 4-1 and 5-3 in the opening set. She saved a set point on serve and later erased two chances for Gauff in the tie-break always snatching away the opportunities for the American. It is a win over a top 3 player for the second Olympic Games running. Albeit the first on clay with her last top 10 wins coming on hard courts or grass.
Gauff broke serve in the second set but ultimately lost the last five games. Vekic's second service break was controversial. At 30-40, she hit a return deep which Gauff mishit into the net. The shot was called out and the umpire corrected the call and awarded the point to Vekic. The Croat then escaped in an incident which summed up Gauff's day.
She won 10 out of the last 12 points in the patch and struck 28 winners to Gauff's nine in the upset win and only Danielle Collins may remain shortly. The American saw off Camila Osorio with a Quarter-Final against Iga Swiatek likely in her future.
But with Pegula gone and Qinwen Zheng about to complete a heroic win over Emma Navarro, it could be a near wipeout for Americans in one morning. Only Taylor Fritz who anchors male causes remains from the ATP draw in terms of morning winners. So one of the most stacked teams on paper only likely has Collins and Fritz left.
