Vekic overcomes top seed Garcia in Monterrey decider
Donna Vekic's terrific start to 2023 has been validated with her first title of the season, having won 14 of her past 16 matches.
Donna Vekic stamped her red-hot start to 2023 with her first title of the season, defeating world number five Caroline Garcia in the Monterrey Open final.
The 6-4 3-6 7-5 success means Vekic, 26, has now won 14 of her past 16 matches dating back to New Year's Eve.
She dropped only two sets through her five matches in Mexico this week.
She also made the 2023 Australian Open quarter-finals, losing to eventual champion Aryna Sabalenka.
The Croatian Vekic grabbed the early break to control the first frame and, when serving for the set, showed grit to fight back from a 0-40 deficit and save three break points en route to securing the opener.
She kept her momentum rolling into the second, breaking and consolidating to jump ahead 2-0.
However, the response from France's Garcia showed why she was the WTA Finals champion last season, rattling off five games in a row.
Vekic showed no signs of slowing down though and Garcia was forced to save eight break points to keep the third set level, before the dam finally broke at 6-5 to prevent a tiebreaker.
It was the fourth title of Vekic's career but only her second since 2017, having snapped a four-year drought at the 2021 Courmayeur Ladies Open.
