Olympic tennis silver medallist Donna Vekic's astonishing side hustle

Donna Vekic of Croatia lost 6-2, 6-3 to Zheng Qinwen of China in the women's Olympic gold medal match. Vekic's career is a fascinating one both on and off the court, so let's take a look!

Donna Vekic reached an important milestone in her career at Wimbledon by reaching the semi-finals of a grand slam for the first time in her career.

Despite Vekic's defeat against Italy's Jasmine Paolini, the future looks bright for the Croatian.

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We all know Vekic as the top tennis player she is, but did you know that she is also a businesswoman?

Vekic reportedly has a passion for fragrances and her fitness coach, Zlatko Novkovic, encouraged her to use her passion for business. "You should start your own brand of candles," Novkovic once said, as per WTA Tennis.

"Ooooh, yeah. Why not?," Vekic thought.

Vekic didn't take long to think it over and quickly established her own business in 2021, called DNNA, selling luxury candles, room sticks and diffusers.

Picture credit: Instagram, @my_dnna

"People who know me well, know that I am a huge, huge fan of candles," Vekic told WTA Tennis in October 2021. "So when I told my friends, they were not so surprised. With friends, it is always on the table. Or when I come home, always a candle is on in my apartment."

The candles Vekic sells are made from 100 per cent beeswax from the Kopacki Rit Nature Park, close to Osijek, where she was born.

Vekic is focusing on health with her candles, as they "emit negative ions and create a non-toxic burn," as WTA Tennis explained.

"I wanted my brand to be healthy. To be good for you, good for nature. Most other brands of candles use soy or paraffin, which is much unhealthier," Vekic said.

Back in October 2021, Vekic wanted to expand her business. "We plan to have a few more other products. They’ll be based around scents and perfume, and let’s see where this is going to go."

Nowadays, Vekic (born 28 June 1996) still focuses mainly on tennis. So far, she has had a successful career with four singles titles to her name and a career-high ranking of world No. 19, according to WTA Tennis stats.

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