Donna Vekic suffers mid-air helicopter scare on way to Guadalajara and says she was 'freaking out'

Published 19/10/2022 at 11:56 GMT

Donna Vekic enjoyed a successful week in San Diego as she came through qualifying and beat two top-10 players on her way to the final, where she lost in three sets to world No. 1 Iga Swiatek. After the final she travelled to Guadalajara and she has spoken about her journey to the tournament, which included a helicopter ride where the door opened during the flight.

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Donna Vekic has revealed that she was “freaking out” over a mid-air helicopter scare during her trip to the final WTA 1000 tournament of the season in Guadalajara.

Vekic made the San Diego Open final on Sunday and travelled down the coast to Guadalajara on Monday.

She beat Laura Pigossi in her opening match on Tuesday and revealed afterwards that part of her journey to the tournament was not smooth sailing.

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"It was great, except the door opened mid-flight," she said. "It was actually my fault because when we were sitting at the beginning, it was so hot, so I opened the door a little bit to have some air. I guess I didn't close it properly.

"10 minutes into the flight, the door opened. I was freaking out. The guys were freaking out in the back because I was sitting in the front. The pilot was like, 'No pasa nada. No pasa nada (no problem)’.'"

Vekic said she grabbed the door and the helicopter landed safely.

The former world No. 19 showed impressive form in San Diego as she came through qualifying and then beat two top-10 players to make the final.

She also took a set from world No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the final.

"Honestly, I'm really happy and grateful to be here," she added.

"The tournament, they gave me a wild card. Without it, I wouldn't even be able to play. So I'm just enjoying my time here, happy to play a couple more matches before the season is over."

Vekic is back in the top 50 in the world rankings after undergoing knee surgery in February.

She reached a career-high No. 19 towards the end of the 2019 season.

"The ranking motivates me, but what means a lot to me is that I was able to play the level of tennis that I had last week, and for seven matches in a row," she said.

"That really means a lot to me. It means a lot to my team. It gives me great motivation for the off-season.

"Touch wood, but I'm finally going to finish the year not injured, and hopefully I can do a good pre-season and start strong in Australia."

Vekic faces Veronika Kudermetova on Wednesday.

Kudermetova is one of 13 players still in with a chance of qualifying for the season-ending WTA Finals this week.

WTA Guadalajara