A dog is a human’s best friend, it is often said. Ask Donna Vekic, who has numerous dogs as pets. The Croatian tennis star is quite active on social media and often shares wonderful glimpses of the time spent with her pets. However, things took a turn for the worse this time around as she took to her official Instagram handle to mourn the saddening loss of one of her pet dogs. Reacting to this, the likes of Jessica Pegula and Anna Kalinskaya paid their tributes to Hi.

Hours ago, Vekic took to her official Instagram handle to share a personal tragedy with the tennis world. She posted a series of pictures with her pet dog, hick, and wrote, “thank you for the best 18 years,” along with a sad, teary-eyed face and a heart emoji. Grieving the loss of her pet, Vekic was left heartbroken and her fellow tennis stars paid tribute.

Russian tennis star, Anna Kalinskaya, was among the first ones to reach out. She commented on Vekic’s post with multiple crying emojis as she shared similar emotions to that of Vekic. Further, Jessica Pegula also paid tribute with a crying and a heart emoji, denoting that she was right behind Vekic during these difficult times.

Other tennis stars to reach out to Vekic were Belinda Bencic and Serena Williams’ former coach, Rennae Stubbs. While Bencic commented with a trio of broken heart emojis, Stubbs wrote, “Oh nooooo,” as she the emotions sinked in.

Meanwhile, in the Instagram post that Vekic shared, the Croatian star posted a series of pictures of their time together. In every picture, Vekic looked very happy and was all smiles, denoting what her pet dog’s presence meant to her. However, with this tragedy, Vekic is left with a huge void that cannot be filled. Additionally, Hick was also Vekic’s close confidante during tough times.

Donna Vekic braced Covid-19 nightmare with the help of Hick

The Covid-19 pandemic was a testing time for everyone, including Vekic, who was subject to nightmarish experiences during lockdowns. However, she had the company of Hick, her pet dog, with whom she spent quality time. Subsequently, as the tournaments resumed with empty stadiums, Vekic didn’t have the best of times there.

Recalling her experience, she once said, “It felt like a nightmare. It was horrible. I could hear my coach’s breath so I was like, please, I need people.” Nonetheless, Vekic went on to play in the tournaments and performed decently. Her pet, Hick, had a big role to play for maintaining Vekic’s emotional balance.

Amid this personal tragedy, Vekic is currently playing in Libema Open. She won her opening round match against Tamara Korpatsch of Germany in straight sets and will take on Greet Minnen next. In what could be a perfect tribute for her late pet, Vekic would look to dig deep and lift the trophy here.