Introducing the new teen queens who are set to take the tennis world by storm
By IVAN SPECK
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In 2004, when a 17-year-old leggy blonde called Maria Sharapova thrilled Centre Court by winning the Wimbledon women’s singles title, the average age of the four Grand Slam champions was 20. In the past two years, it has been over 26. Svetlana Kuznetsova, at 19, was the last teenage champion – also in 2004, at the US Open.
Stamina, sustained power and experience have usurped freshness and fearlessness. Well, now the teens are back and a 16-year-old girl from Croatia who is coached in Britain is turning the most heads on and off the court.
Donna Vekic has made it to two WTA Tour finals already in her fledgling career, the most recent being in Birmingham a week ago. Comparisons with Sharapova are as inevitable as they are unfair. Vekic will only be 17 on Friday. She understands the Sharapova references. They come up in every interview she gives.
Rising star: Vekic has already made two WTA Tour finals at the age of 16
DONNA VEKIC (CROATIA)
Age: 16
Ranking: 64
Ranking: 64
Born in Croatia, trained in London and mentored byChris Evert. Vekic is the complete package and hotly tipped to be the sport’s next big thing.
Vekic said: ‘It doesn’t annoy me. It’s a compliment but I want to be Donna Vekic, not the next Maria Sharapova, or the next Caroline Wozniacki, even though I look like them a little bit.
'There are a few teenagers in the top 100 now and I’m happy to be the youngest. The game is becoming more physical so you don’t get many youngsters any more — just us special ones, I suppose.’
It comes as a surprise initially that Vekic’s idol is 18-time Grand Slam champion Chris Evert, whom she met as a young girl at the Evert Academy.
‘She’s an inspiration and one of my favourite players ever,’ said Vekic. ‘I really look up to her. I see her at some tournaments now, which is great. If I can achieve anything near what she has that would be amazing.’
Teen queens: Vekic (left) and Eugenie Bouchard are just two of the teenagers who are tipped to go a long way
When Vekic was just nine, she followed the path to the Bollettieri Academy in Florida that Sharapova and so many other prodigies in the women’s game have trodden.
But for the past five-and-a-half years she has been guided to the top in Britain.
Her mentor is David Felgate, the man who coached Tim Henman into the Wimbledon semi-finals and the men’s elite. Since she was 11 years old Vekic and her father Igor have been flying over to Northwood in north London for up to 10 days a month for tuition with Felgate.
At home on the grass: Vekic spends much of the year in London with her British coach David Felgate
EUGENIE BOUCHARD (CANADA)
Age: 19
Ranking: 67
Ranking: 67
Consistent allrounder on the court who won junior Wimbledon in 2012 and is still developing her power. Trains in Florida. A member of the Nike stable who wears the Sharapova line of tennis gear.
The rest of her time was spent back in Osijek, a town in eastern Croatia which was fought over with devastating loss of life and destruction during the Serbo-Croat war that ended just a year before Vekic was born.
Vekic added: ‘I wanted to work with David from the start. We have a great connection. Having an English coach is nice during the grass season, but he has given me huge support throughout the whole year. I appreciate it.
‘He is the main reason for my success and I’m very happy to look at him during tough times in a match. Everyone says he was Tim Henman’s coach. Hopefully one day they will say he was Donna Vekic’s coach. That would make me very happy.
Glamour girl: Vekic attended the WTA player party at the Kensington Roof Gardens in London
‘When I play at Wimbledon, I feel like I’m at home. I still have a few years to get myself and my story known to the British crowds, so hopefully one day they will support me, but I will always be Croatian.’
Her tennis game is a work in progress, albeit with remarkable results already. Her hard, flat-hitting style is being supplemented with power as her body develops.
‘I need to get a lot stronger physically and improve my movement a little bit. I’ve always been strong mentally,’ she said. ‘That is one of the biggest assets of my game, being able to come back from tough situations. But there’s still a bit of improvement needed there, too.
‘Grass really suits my game style. I do like to attack on court and hopefully I can do well.’
Felgate agrees, although he urges caution. He said: ‘Donna’s record is phenomenal and winning is nice, but we are planning what she is going to do until she reaches maturity.
One to watch: Vekic reached the final of the AEGON Classic in Birmingham earlier this month
‘Her heart and her head are a huge part of her talent. She works hard and listens. Did I see the talent straight away? No. Maybe I’m no good at that.
‘The women are getting stronger and faster.
‘You’ve got a little group of teenagers now — with Donna and Madison Keys — ready to move on, but I do think it’s harder for them to win the biggest tournaments.
‘I’m not sure we’ll ever see again the likes of what we saw with Martina Hingis and Anna Kournikova.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/tennis/article-2347005/Wimbledon-2013-Donna-Vekic-teen-queens-ready-tennis-world-storm.html#ixzz2X5frfEff
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