Having faced off in the 2021 Courmayeur final, Clara Tauson and Donna Vekic meet again in conversation with TENNIS OFFICIAL
Before a match, what kind of music is best at pumping you up?
CT: In Courmayeur I listened to an Italian song by Måneskin. I really like them because one of the band members is Danish, like me, and their music really pumps you up. I turn the volume up as high as possible to drown out everything else.
DV: Anything except country.
What was one of the best matches you remember watching as a kid?
CT: It wasn’t when I was very young, but the year I won the junior Australian Open, in 2019, we got tickets to see the women’s final between Naomi Osaka and Petra Kvitova. They played a really good match, and I was really inspired by how Osaka had three match points in the second set—but Kvitova was able to save them and force a third. It was so nice to be able to see that level of tennis live and in person.
DV: I remember being very little and watching Venus and Serena playing the finals of Wimbledon and thinking, ‘Wow, I want to play on that court one day.’
Do you have any crazy travel stories where you’ve had trouble getting to a tournament?
CT: One time, I lost my luggage because we only had 10 minutes to get from one flight to another, and there wasn’t enough time for our bags to make it onto the plane. But that was on my way back from a tournament, so I didn’t need anything right away. I have clothes at home!
DV: A couple of times I’ve snuck my dogs onto flights, but there was one time I was at an airport where there were two flights going to the same city at the same time, and I was at the wrong gate. I’m always late to airports as it is, so needless to say, I missed that flight!
What kind of accounts do you like to follow on social media?
CT: I’m not really on Instagram that much; sometimes I respond to a few people. I’m much more into TikTok and just scrolling through videos for hours. I don’t have an account; I just watch tons of skits where people do silly things. It’s really nice to do something completely different when you’re done with a match, to turn your brain off and watch funny videos.
DV: I try to avoid food accounts because they make me hungry whenever I look at them. I’ll watch a lot of fashion, but the most fun is when Belinda Bencic sends me dog videos. I can’t avoid those.
Which emojis do you use most often when texting friends and family?
CT: I don’t use emojis! If anything, I’ll make the keyboard smiley 🙂 but my friends hate it! I don’t understand emojis at all and barely know how to use them. They confuse me so much. Maybe I’ll send a heart to my grandparents, but that’s it!
DV: The cry-laughing emoji, definitely.
