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Donna Vekic won the 2023 Abierto GNP Seguros on Sunday. The Croatian defeated Caroline Garcia 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 after nearly two hours and 30 minutes of play. Coming into the final, Garcia hadn’t dropped a set in the week and had also enjoyed substantial success on her serve.
However, Vekic broke down the Frenchwoman’s game from the start. The third seed hit 13 aces to her top-seeded opponent’s 15. She did hit eight double faults across the match but that didn’t stop her from dominating the stats.
Vekic finished the match by winning 73% of her first-serve points to Garcia’s 69%. She also converted all three break points she had on the fifth-ranked Garcia’s serve. Vekic saved 14 of the 16 break points she faced.
Garcia did have 14 more winners than Vekic’s 33 but she also had eight more unforced errors than Vekic’s 26. For the match, Vekic finished with 108 points to Garcia’s 107.
Abierto GNP Seguros: Sweet taste of triumph for Donna Vekic
Following the win, Vekic said, “It was a crazy match until the end, [Garcia] was playing so well, playing so deep.
I was trying to win as many points as I could. It was not easy, but I’m really happy to win. It’s been a great start of the year for me. If the title didn’t come now, I believe that it would have come soon. So, I’ve been playing good tennis, and I just need to keep working hard and hopefully stay healthy, and I’m sure I will keep having good results”.
The Abierto GNP Seguros event’s the fourth title Donna Vekic’s won in her career now. It’s also the first time since 2021 October that the 26-year-old’s claimed a title. Caroline Garcia’s now 0-2 in Monterrey finals after having lost both finales she’s contested, the first coming in 2015 and the second, this year.
The 29-year-old’s also 0-2 in finals she’s played this year. Earlier, she’d lost the Lyon Open to Alycia Parks.