“She’s(Vekic) getting to the point where she can do a lot of this on her own, as long as she has the clarity,” said Pam Shriver, the legendary coach of Donna Vekic. Short on words and with a bright smile on her face, Vekic  is looking forward to challenging Qinwen Zheng for the gold medal match in Paris. Although she currently finds herself on top of the game, the road that she navigated through wasn’t as pleasant as it seems to be. It’s a mix of fierceness and emotions. But mostly, the latter as Shriver explained.

Vekic’s emotional vulnerability is well-known. Her feelings are often on full display, even during tense match moments. Despite this, she has shown remarkable resilience. At Wimbledon, she overcame physical distress to produce a stunning point when facing match point, demonstrating an unexpected level of composure. “She lets people know what she’s feeling,” Shriver said in an August 2nd interview with the New York Times. Shriver further shared insights about the emotional challenges in tennis, recalling her own journey.

“If it gets too emotional, then it’s hard to be clear,” the former WTA pro, who reached eight major singles semifinals and one final in her career, said. Further drawing parallels to that of her own journey, the renowned coach added,“I know that 100 per cent because I was very emotional as a player. And I look back and I’m like, ‘Dang, that definitely hurt me’. I let the emotions have a domino effect.”

This comment came in regard to the controversy that arose during Vekic’s match against Coco Gauff. The Croatian faced a disputed line call at a crucial point in the second set. As the umpire called it against her rival, Gauff came forward to express her frustration, pressing on a feeling that she was constantly being wronged by the game. While all of this happened, Vekic maintained her focus and told herself, “It’s not my fault.” However, this wasn’t the only emotion shared between Shriver and Vekic.

Another parallel between them is their experience of intense emotions during matches. During one of her matches at Wimbledon, the 28-year-old was seen shouting at Shriver in frustration. She later explained, “I was like, No, this is not happening right now. I could hear Pam shouting, Reset, reset. I was like, Reset what? I was already kind of… didn’t think I was going to break her again. I was just trying to think how I’m going to play my service game at 5-All.”

Always honest and rather emotional, Vekic is happy to admit that she doesn’t enjoy these big occasions. Rather the amazing crowd. “The part that I do enjoy is playing on big courts with such an amazing crowd. That’s the part that I try to soak in while I’m playing. I have to always remind myself to enjoy it.” While Vekic often experiences the rollercoster of emotions on court, there was a time when Shriver came to her rescue with a “mantra” when she nearly gave up on the sport.

How Shriver’s “reset” mantra worked well for Vekic, who once almost quit tennis

Vekic currently stands on top of the competition in Paris. While there was a time when she was desperately wanted to quit, her coach Shriver blessed her with a “reset” mantra, a technique she used to take her competitors down. After a tough defeat by Jasmine Paolini, Vekic decided to take some time off to relax on the beach in her home country before focusing on the Olympics.

Shriver advised Vekic, saying, “Just trust yourself on this one. You know how to deal with it.” As soon as she made it to the quarter-finals, Shriver was confident that Vekic had reached a state of immense focus, saying, “She was just in that place where you want to be in the quarterfinals of a major, which is like with the blinders on.”

Shriver usually travels with Vekic for major events and has been consistently supporting her from Los Angeles for the Olympics and therefore praised Vekic for “doing a great job of resetting.” As the finals showdown against Qinwen Zheng lies ahead of her, it still remains to be seen if the “reset” mantra works here.