Donna Vekic suffers mid-air fright ahead of Guadalajara victory

Reuters
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Croatian Donna Vekic said she was ‘freaking out’ after the door of the helicopter she was traveling in to the Guadalajara Open in Mexico opened mid-flight.

The 26-year-old, runner-up in San Diego last week, arrived safely and made light work of her first-round opponent Laura Pigossi but her pre-match routine was hardly ideal.

“It was great, except the door opened mid-flight,” Vekic told reporters. “It was actually my fault because when we were sitting at the beginning, it was so hot, so I opened the door a little bit to have some air. I guess I didn’t close it properly.

“10 minutes into the flight, the door opened. I was freaking out. The guys were freaking out in the back because I was sitting in the front.

“The pilot was like, ‘No pasa nada. No pasa nada (no problem).’”

Vekic, who set up a company making bees wax candles and donates money to bee conservation, is battling back up the rankings after falling outside the top 100.

She impressed in San Diego where she came through qualifying and beat two top-10 players before losing to world number one Iga Swiatek in the final in three sets.

Vekic faces Veronika Kudermetova on Wednesday.