Olga Danilovic’s fairytale Roland Garros run continues, with the Serbian qualifier scoring another notable upset to reach her first Grand Slam fourth round.
Less than 24 hours after stunning in-form Danielle Collins, Danilovic produced another inspired comeback to oust former top-20 player Donna Vekic in a third-set tiebreak.
Danilovic was determined to soak in this moment.
Buoyed by a passionate crowd at Court Simonne Mathieu, she fired a final forehand winner past Vekic and collapsed to the clay. After hugging her vanquished opponent, she placed her hands to her heart and acknowledged the crowd, as tears of relief and happiness came. She also leapt for joy, a full range of emotions that she revealed she did not properly allow herself to experience a day earlier.
In the second round, Collins – who recently returned to the top 10 – led by a set and a break and served for the match. The American has been enjoying a brilliant season and especially so on clay, winning Charleston before reaching the semifinals in Rome and the Strasbourg final.
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Somehow Danilovic recovered, producing one of the upsets of the tournament to advance. It was just the second top-10 win over her career, and first in six years.
But given the frequent rain delays at Roland Garros in 2024 and the resulting back-log of matches, she was barely able to contemplate what she had achieved.
The very next morning she was back on court and battling Vekic, her sixth match of the tournament after coming through three rounds of qualifying.
Vekic won the first set 6-0, led 3-1 in the third, and twice served for the match. She also led 6-2 in the subsequent match tie-break.
Danilovic refused to concede.
“I fought every shot. Every shot that I could get to hit back, I did,” said Danilovic, who booked a last-16 meeting with reigning Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova.
“The whole thing about today's match I think is to trust in yourself, I mean, because there was nothing else. She played great; I played good. So at the end of the day, it's just (a) couple of points, you know, just to trust yourself, to believe in yourself, and to never give up, I think.
“For me was just big, big relief. Just that moment of I deserved it kind of for myself. I mean, of course to my team, but more to me, like, okay, I deserved it.
“It was like a proud moment to soak it in, let's say like that, and to enjoy it for a moment. Because yesterday I didn't have time to enjoy the victory that I had.”
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Danilovic’s progression to the second week of a major is confirmation of the talent that was obvious when she won her first WTA title in Moscow in 2018, at age 17.
As a rising Serbian player she has also connected with celebrated compatriot Novak Djokovic, who has mentored the now-23-year-old.
“I come to him with some day-to-day struggles that I have on court,” Danilovic revealed, “and he's really happy to share his thoughts with me and what he learned, what kind of mistakes he did so maybe I don't have to do them.”
She’s never been ranked higher than world No.93, despite successfully qualifying for Roland Garros three years running, and winning rounds in every Grand Slam main draw she has contested so far.
And that’s because of constant struggles with physical issues.
As detailed by Serbian journalist Sasa Osmo, her 2021 and 2022 seasons were compromised by health troubles, and she deals with a chronic knee injury, trialling a knee patch to manage the pain this year at Roland Garros.
But clay is kind to her knee, and she is coming alive on it in Paris.
“I like clay. I was born on clay. In Europe normally we all have clay courts that we practise since we're young. I like long points. I like to be creative on court,” said Danilovic, who is expected to return to the cusp of the top 100.
“It's something that I enjoy here in Paris. I don't know why, to be honest, and I don't want to know why, because that's the whole magic of it.
“Every match I get is like a blessing, and playing in the biggest stages of our sport is a blessing. I try to take as much as I can.”