Despite clay-colored kit, Donna Vekic stands out at Roland Garros

FLASHBACK: Vekic credits a fourth-round run in Rome with helping her prepare for Roland Garros.

PARIS—Donna Vekic showed how well she can slide at Roland Garros on Monday, but if she falls down in her clay-colored Donna Sport ensemble, fans may not be able to find her!

“I really like the colors,” she said of the latest addition to her eponymous on-court fashion line. “I hope I don't blend in too much with the clay! But yeah, it's a nice color. It's very classic.”

Accented by a more traditional navy, Vekic rode the sartorial wave to an impressive win over Dayana Yastremska, 6-2, 7-5—tentatively earning a return to the Top 20 for the first time since 2020.

“I think it's just where I am in my career,” she said of her high expectations coming into her 11th(!) Roland Garros. “I had the same in Australia, and I was not ranked as high as I am now, but these are the most important tournaments for me.

“It's tough for me to be 100 percent fit and healthy throughout the whole year, so I try to time it for the Slams to make sure I have enough time off, I have enough preparation.

“Today was a little bit easier to handle the nerves. I was expecting a bit more because the same thing happened to me in Australia. I was completely frozen out there in the first round! I was kind of expecting that today.”

Unlike her Melbourne marathon against Oksana Selekhmeteva, Vekic endured only a minor blip in the second set as Yastremska charged back from a break down—perhaps due to keeping things lowkey off the court.

“Actually, this week we are staying in an apartment, so I haven't actually been out to eat, not once, but have been more staying at home and cooking, but not too much.

“The recipe to success, I don't know! I hope I will find out these two weeks.”

Among her pre-tournament highlights? Practicing with Caroline Wozniacki, and dinner with Borna Coric.

“Borna came over a couple of times, so I cooked him salmon. “Yeah, we were just taking it a bit easier the last couple of days, but I'll go out to dinner tonight!”

Maybe the Queen of Candles will celebrate with a crepe after the second round against Bernarda Pera.