Germany’s Laura Siegemund was at the peak of all actions in her previous tournament on her home soil. But she came to the headlines, not because of her performance! It was due to her involvement in a controversial moment during her first-round match against Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk at the Stuttgart Open. However, that’s past! Siegemund has gone off to a winning start in Madrid, but, can she carry forward the momentum from the qualifiers to make a deep run at the Madrid Open? She faces Croatia’s Donna Vekic in her next match.

Donna Vekic has had a decent start to her season. She has reached the SF of the Linz Open and QF of the San Diego Open this year. While Laura Siegemund’s best results for 2024 came at the Copa Colsanitas where she managed to make a QF run. How far can they go this time around in Madrid?

Laura Siegemund vs Donna Vekic: Preview

The 36-year-old German tennis star turned pro in 2006 but has only managed to clinch 2 singles titles so far in her career. She will be now looking forward to securing a few more in her trophy cabinet once she decides to hang her boots. Laura Siegemund has got off to a flying start in Madrid as she overcame the American hurdle by defeating Tyra Caterina Grant in a three-set thriller in the first qualifiers. After that, she outclassed Spain’s Carlota Martinez Cirez in her previous match by 6-1,6-2.

In that match against Cirez, Siegemund managed to hit only a single ace throughout the game but didn’t commit any double fault. Siegemund won 74% of her first serve against the Spanish youngster. But when it came to the second serve, the percentage dropped to 67% and she could manage to convert only five of her eleven breakpoints in that game. She won seven of her service games against Cirez.

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If we look at her overall record for this season, the most concerning factor in her game at the moment is her serves. She has managed to hit only ten aces so far this season but committed thirty-four double faults. Laura Siegemund has won 57.9% of her service games and 44.9% of her return games in 2024. Can these numbers give her an edge over Donna Vekic ahead of this intriguing clash?

Vekic turned pro in 2012 and has won four titles so far in her career. That’s two more than Siegemund! She has already made two deep runs into the tournaments this year but in her previous match in Stuttgart, she got defeated in her first match against Marketa Vondrousova. The Czech tennis star, defeated Donna Vekic by 6-4,6-3. Vekic is known for her powerful serves but surprisingly she failed to hit even a single ace throughout the game against Vondrousova. Moreover, she had committed three double faults in that match.

Her first-serve win percentage was around 68%. But it dropped down to 38% when it came to her second serve win percentage against the former world number six. However, the Croatian managed to convert two of her three break points successfully in that match and won five of her service games against the Czech. The German looks slightly ahead looking at the stats of their previous match.

But if we look at the overall numbers for this season, Vekic has managed to fire in seventy-nine aces and committed eighty-six double faults so far. She has won 70.8% of her service games compared to only 34.2% of her return games. Vekic looks slightly ahead looking at their records for the 2024 season. So, it’s quite even at the moment.

Siegemund vs Vekic: Head-to-Head

Even here it’s all even at 0-0, they haven’t met each other in their career so far. Vekic (38) currently sits 45 places above Siegemund (83) in the WTA singles ranking. Donna Vekic reached the third round of this tournament in 2019. But she lost her first match at the Madrid Open last year. Laura Siegemund would love to gift her a similar fate this year as well. But if we look at Siegemund’s record in this tournament, even the German doesn’t have any notable runs over here. She won her qualifiers last year as well but got defeated in R128.

Prediction: Siegemund to pass the test by the slightest of margins

It’s going to be Donna Vekic’s attack vs Laura Siegemund’s relentless defending. Siegemund will look forward to frustrating her opponent and using different spins to topple the Croatian. Vekic was seen struggling a bit with a similar strategy in her previous match against Vondrousova. The 27-year-old Croatian is an aggressive baseliner with some really powerful serves and ground strokes in her armory. But her accuracy with the serves will be something to watch out for.

The only weakness of Vekic is that at times she is very reluctant to come to the nets. Additionally, Donna Vekic is not so proficient on slower courts. Clay courts in Madrid are known to be a bit sluggish. So Siegemund would love to utilize the conditions to the fullest and come out with a result in her favor.