French Open 2024: Marta Kostyuk vs Donna Vekic; Preview, Head-to-Head, and Prediction

Marta Kostyuk turned heads with her stunning green Wilson outfit in her first-round match at the 2024 French Open. She defeated the Brazilian tennis player, Laura Pigossi in a three-set thriller in that match. In the second round, she will be facing Croatia’s Donna Vekic and perhaps this time she might just look to catch all the attention with a dominating performance on the Parisian clay.

Kostyuk has had an outstanding season so far. She has reached the QF of the AO this year. After that, she appeared in two finals and one SF in the rest of her tournaments this year. Vekic has made it through to one SF and one QF in her previous tournaments this year. So, more or less both of them are in decent form this season. It will be interesting to see who gets the better of the other in the R2 clash in Paris.

Marta Kostyuk vs Donna Vekic: Preview

Kostyuk defeated Pigossi by a 7-5,6(4)-7,6-4 margin in the first round match. She hit five aces but committed quite a few double faults (11). Her first serve win percentage was 49% and her second serve win percentage was 65% against the Brazilian. Marta Kostyuk converted eight of her nineteen breakpoints in that match.

Looking at her numbers from this season, Kostyuk has hit 73 aces but has committed 179 double faults so far, which has been the biggest concern for her this season. She has won 64.7% of her service games and 40.3% of her return games this year. Can Kostyuk improve her numbers in her next match?

Now if we look at Donna Vekic’s record from this season, though the Croatian benefitted from the retirement of Lesia Tsurenko in the first-round clash, did you know she faced the same opponent in her previous tournament as well? Ukraine’s Tsurenko defeated Vekic in her first-round match at the 2024 Italian Open by a 6-2,3-6,7-6(5) scoreline. Donna Vekic hit five aces in that match and committed seven double faults.

Her first serve win percentage was 66% and on the second serve it crept a little to 68%. She converted just two of her eleven breakpoints in that match against Tsurenko. Donna Vekic has hit 89 aces so far this season and has committed 97 double faults. She has won 71.7% of her service games and 32.7% of her return games. Can she put up a tough challenge against another Ukrainian in the second round of the 2024 French Open?

Kostyuk vs Vekic: Head-to-Head

Marta Kostyuk and Donna Vekic haven’t faced each other on the tour yet. So this will be their first meeting and they will be keen to thump their authority on each other in this epic clash. Kostyuk is ranked number 20 in the women’s singles, while Vekic is in the 40th spot. Is this ranking going to be a crucial factor in deciding the winner in this match?

Prediction: Kostyuk to win by four sets

Well, partly yes, but that’s not the only factor that is going to keep the Ukrainian ahead of the Croatian in this intriguing contest. Marta Kostyuk reached the fourth round of the French Open in 2021, while Donna Vekic’s best result in this tournament was also reaching the fourth round, but in 2019. So, there’s nothing much to differentiate between the two looking at their previous results in this tournament. But Kostyuk is in better form at the moment. She has a win-loss record of 19-9 so far this season compared to Vekic’s 10-10.

This is something that is going to keep her slightly ahead in the match. Marta Kostyuk is an excellent mover on the court and she’s in fact one of the best athletes in the women’s game on clay. She is quite inventive with her shots and can come up with some extraordinary drop shots as well.

On the other hand, Donna Vekic is an aggressive baseliner who can produce some real venom with her serves. Her groundstrokes are equally powerful and this helps her dictate the game from the baseline. But she isn’t too proficient on the slower courts such as the clay courts. So, Marta Kostyuk seems very likely to come out of this exciting matchup with flying colors.