Croatia’s Donna Vekic reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the first time on Sunday with a rain-interrupted three-set win over Spain’s Paula Badosa. The 28-year-old world number 37 triumphed 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 and goes on to face either Britain’s Emma Raducanu or New Zealand qualifier Lulu Sun for a place in the semi-finals.

Vekic and Badosa fought through three rain suspensions out on Court Two before the Croatian’s 33 winners proved decisive.

“We’ve been here since 8:30 this morning and it’s now almost 7pm. It’s been a very long day,” said Vekic, who has now made the last eight at three Grand Slams in her career.

“It was a tough match. When we came back after the second rain delay I felt she was reading my mind.”

Vekic reached the quarter-finals of the US Open in 2019 and the Australian Open last year. Before this year, her best run at the All England Club was a fourth round spot in 2018.