Vekić on fire, but yesterday’s title creates doubt

Donna Vekić arrives in Berlin in the form of her life on grass. The Croatian has just won the WTA 500 Queen's Club yesterday, dominating Raducanu, Plíšková and Boulter in five days, coming in as a lucky loser and leaving as champion. On this surface she’s in a rare state of grace, and against Eala, who lost 2-6, 2-6 to Jovic at Queen's last week, the gap in level is obvious. The only head-to-head between the two dates back to January on hard courts in Auckland and has no predictive value on grass.

The problem is precisely that title yesterday. Vekić is 29 years old, she’s just had the best week of her season and Wimbledon starts in two weeks. The post-title letdown in a first round against a manageable opponent is a classic scenario on tour, and there’s no guarantee she’ll be mentally ready to go again as soon as today. There is value at 1.79, but the doubt about her mindset is too significant to take the risk with confidence.