NEW YORK—Carlos Alcaraz wasn’t the only one sporting a new hairstyle this summer.
“You like it?” Donna Vekic asked, shaking out her shorn locks over the US Open interview table. “I needed a change. One of the many changes I needed. I feel like a new person. It’s so much lighter!”
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Not since Nicki Minaj has someone been so known for a bob, but the Olympic silver medalist channeled the Paris 2024 logo after Wimbledon in an effort to take back her power following a disheartening European swing.
“I was very disappointed with the clay season,” the former No. 17 told me. “Every year, it kills me. Every year, I give a little bit more, and it doesn’t give back! I mean, I did win a medal on clay, so maybe that’s enough for the rest of my life on clay. But that kind of drained me. Then when you go with low confidence on grass, and I was defending a lot of points, I had some tough matches. I was just expecting a lot and feeling a lot of pressure. That wasn’t great.”
A year prior Vekic excelled on both sides of the Channel, reaching her first Grand Slam semifinal at the All England Club and sliding onto the Olympic podium with wins over Coco Gauff and Marta Kostyuk. At the time, she was of two minds of whether her form was a new peak or her career pinnacle.