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Vekic went under the knife after the 2021
Australian Open and had said at the Melbourne Park major in
January that she was in a constant fight to regain her old level
after being out for months at a time with knee issues.
She won her fourth career title and first since Courmayeur in
2021 after beating top seed Caroline Garcia 6-4 3-6 7-5 in the
final in Mexico.
"It's been a great start to the year for me," Vekic said.
The Australian Open quarter-finalist said she was sure that she
would return to the winners circle at some point this year after
reaching the San Diego final in October.
Having beaten several top seeds in that tournament, she lost to
world number one Iga Swiatek in the final.
"If the title didn't come now, I believe it would have come
soon. I've been playing good tennis and I need to keep working
hard and hopefully stay healthy," the 26-year-old Vekic said.
"I'm sure I'll keep having good results."
Victory over world number five Garcia marked the first time
Vekic had beaten a top-10 player this year and she rose eight
places to number 23 in the world rankings.
"It was a crazy match until the end, (Garcia) was playing so
well, playing so deep," Vekic said. "I was trying to win as many
points as I could. It wasn't easy, but I'm really happy to win."
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by
Christian Schmollinger)
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