[Source: Reuters]

Donna Vekic became Croatia’s first-ever Olympic singles finalist when she beat Slovakia’s Anna Karolina Schmiedlova on Thursday but not long ago she had considered quitting tennis altogether.

The 28-year-old, whose career was interrupted by knee surgery, became so disillusioned before this year’s French Open that she came close to calling it a day.

She plowed on though and reached the Wimbledon semi-finals last month, losing a marathon match to Jasmine Paolini, and now she finds herself on the brink of a gold medal.

Speaking during her superb run at Wimbledon in July, the 21st-ranked Vekic recalled her frame of mind before the French Open.

She lost in the third round at the French Open to qualifier Olga Danilovic but her return to Paris has been more successful.

Her run to the final included beating second seed Coco Gauff and surviving a three-hour epic against Marta Kostyuk in the quarter-finals in which she double-faulted on one match point.

She thrashed Schmiedlova 6-4 6-0, saying she was in the zone, although she admitted to feeling more nervous than her recent Wimbledon semi-final that she lost agonizingly.

Vekic admitted to be surprised that she will not be facing world number one Iga Swiatek in the final after the Pole was beaten by China’s Zheng Qinwen.