WTA French Open – Donna Vekic vs Bernarda Pera

WTA French Open – Donna Vekic vs Bernarda Pera

🧠 Form & Context

Donna Vekic
🎢 Survived the scare: Needed three sets to edge past Anna Blinkova in R1 (7-5, 6-7, 6-1), squandering a straight-set chance.
📉 Momentum dip: Has lost seven of her last ten opening rounds, showing clear signs of a confidence and consistency crisis.
🧱 Slam resilience: Reached the Wimbledon semifinal last summer, but hasn’t made a quarterfinal at any event since the Paris Olympics.
💡 Motivation: Eager to reverse her 0-2 record against Pera and return to the RG third round for the first time since 2022.

Bernarda Pera
🪦 Party spoiler: Ended Caroline Garcia’s career in front of a home crowd with a composed 6-4, 6-4 win — her most meaningful result in months.
📉 Poor season: Entered Paris with a 4–10 tour-level record in 2025 and hadn’t won back-to-back main draw matches all year.
📈 RG memories: Reached the Roland-Garros 4R last year, her best Slam showing. Loves this surface and setting.
⚠️ Top-20 troubles: Owns a dismal 5–32 career record against top-20 opposition.

🔍 Match Breakdown

This one is loaded with history — both matches between these two ended in a third set, with Pera coming out on top each time, including right here in Paris last year.

Vekic, for all her power and experience, has been bleeding early losses and struggling to close out matches even when ahead. Still, her level tends to rise in Slams. She has the firepower advantage, especially on serve and return depth, but her confidence has been shaky.

Pera, on the other hand, knows how to exploit inconsistency — her lefty angles, topspin-heavy clay game, and ability to grind from the baseline can frustrate Vekic if the Croatian can’t maintain tempo. The question is: can she bring that Garcia-level calm again?

🔮 Prediction

Prediction: Vekic in 3 sets – the Croatian gets her revenge with nerves intact.