When Donna Vekic was “freaking out” about her Olympics performance, her star coach Pam Shriver advised her to “Just trust” herself “on this one.” Sitting in her LA home, Shriver believed Vekic knew “how to deal with” the pressure – and she was right! The Croatian player ended up being the runner-up in the Summer Olympics. Back then, the Hall of Famer coach couldn’t see her pupil earning the medal live due to family engagements. And who would’ve thought it, but with family taking precedence again, Shriver has found herself at another unpredictable crossroad of choices!

The Hall of Famer legend’s guidance, along with her knowledge, observational skills, and focus on mental toughness have become Vekic’s essential resources for success. All along, Nikola Horvat remained the Croatian player’s day-to-day coach. However, Horvat left Vekic’s team in November 2024 for personal reasons; shortly after that, in December, Vekic introduced Naomi Osaka’s former teammate Sascha Bajin to her team. Nonetheless, Shriver was the WTA No. 19’s main coach and her guidance helped Vekic reach a singles career-high ranking of No. 18 in October. The Croatian also managed to enter the 2024 Wimbledon semi-finals, and earn the Paris Olympics silver medal as the first woman from her country to win a tennis medal at the Olympics. But one disappointment continued to follow.

Despite their successful partnership, Shriver could hardly attend Vekic’s matches last year due to her other work commitments. And this year is no exception exception. Shriver, who is also an ESPN analyst, tweeted, “With @AustralianOpen start @espn & @DonnaVekic playing later today, I am back in LA helping manage my family’s needs. The MVP athletes in charge of hitting fire targets with water dumps from helicopters and planes have been showing extraordinary hand eye skills.” Shriver’s reason for absence was quite heart-wrenching: the catastrophic LA bushfires have destroyed over 2000 acres of land and properties, and led to more 179,000 evacuees. And being a Brentwood neighborhood resident, Shriver’s family suffered from major losses.

This spate of bad luck has seemingly riddled the coach-player duo for a bit now. Last year, the 1988 Seoul Olympics gold medalist couldn’t even witness Vekic’s Australian Open run from the box, what with juggling her ESPN commitments and taking care of her three children. For her children’s activities and graduation, Shriver also missed the WTA number 19 player’s Asian Swing, Clay season, and the Olympics last year. Talk about being star-crossed… or not?

Shriver’s meeting with the Croatian unfolded like a story woven by fate itself. She met Donna Vekic at a player council discussion at the San Diego Open in October 2022. The veteran Grand Slam champion in doubles and Hall of Famer player watched Vekic overpower Lauren Davis in the qualifying rounds’ final. Instantly impressed by Vekic’s playing style and skills, Shriver witnessed an incredible run by the Croatian who defeated the likes of Maria Sakkari, Karolina Pliskova, Danielle Collins, and Aryna Sabalenka before losing the finals against Iga Swiatek in a tough battle. From there, it was all set: the partnership organically began ten days later as Vekic was spotted practicing on Shriver’s home court.

The journey that began from Shiver’s home court saw the pair being emboldened as victories started piling on over the seasons. Shivers confidence too, grew in leaps and bounds. If they achieved so much in less than a year of working together, then the Hall of Famer’s bold claims aren’t that far from reality. So what forecast did Shriver have for her protegee’s career?

Coach Pam Shriver believes in Donna Vekic’s WTA Top 5 potential

Shriver knew that Vekic was determined to return from the Summer Olympics with a medal. Reflecting on that thought, this Hall of Famer legend said, “She went in knowing she was going to either get the gold or silver. I know what it feels like to have a gold medal as part of your intro, to be honest. Being an Olympian is cool, being a medalist is cooler.” After that, Vekic complimented her Croatian pupil big time, predicting her great future. “Donna’s last three tournaments have proved she can be a Top 5 player in the world. What I want to do is help her keep that same mentality, standard of play, discipline, dedication because I know that can be her level — it’s just been hard to maintain it.”

Pam Shriver might not be able to show her support to Donna Vekic with her presence in Melbourne, but she is mentally omnipresent for her player. Shriver’s guidance worked wonders for Vekic last season, clearly. But now, as 2025 is off to a head start in Melbourne, it is time to see if this impressive partnership manages to leave the fraternity in awe of its achievements. Are you ready for it?