Donna Vekic is not like most 16-yearolds, not in the way she plays tennis nor in the way she copes with the demands that come with a fledgling career as one of the rising stars of the WTA Tour.

Vekic’s maturity and poise on and off the court has been impressive at the Aegon Classic this week and she will need every ounce of both today against 2009 Aegon Classic champion Magdalena Rybarikova.

Rybarikova loves Birmingham and has certainly looked comfortable on the Priory Club’s courts. Vekic, for her part, has trained in the UK and has an English coach in Henman’s former mentor David Felgate and she too has looked more and more at home with every passing match.

Vekic and Rybarikova have played once before on the WTA Tour, when Vekic won on a hard-court in Tashkent in September last year. Vekic had come through qualifying at that tournament and went on to reach her first WTA Tour final.

A win today would mark her second final but her first on grass and, with Wimbledon less than two weeks away, we may look back on this week as the time where Vekic and her tennis truly came of age.

The Steely Slovakian

Daniela Hantuchova may not look like an iron lady but she certainly showed that she’s not for turning by fighting from the brink of defeat in successive matches coming into today’s semi-final. She will have to muster the energy for another battle, whoever she plays in this afternoon’s second semi-final, but expect the steely Slovakian to be ready.

To be continued

Bad light stopped play with the third set delicately poised at 2-2, leaving Alison Riske and Sabine Lisicki to wait out an overnight delay when they are still locked in a compelling battle. Riske won a tight first set on a tiebreaker before big-serving Lisicki hit back. The winner is set to play Hantuchova in this afternoon’s second semi-final.