Donna Vekic defeated Marie Bouzkova 7-6, 6-3 in the round of 16 at the HSBC Championships on Friday after the match was suspended for nearly 42 hours due to persistent rain. The grass-court tournament in London has faced major scheduling disruptions since it began, with no courts equipped with roofs. Vekic, a lucky loser, advanced to face Karolina Pliskova in the quarterfinals later the same day.
The match between Vekic and Bouzkova began on Wednesday, June 10, on Court 5. Rain interrupted play in the 11th game with Vekic leading 6-5, and the contest was not resumed that day.
Action was set to continue on Thursday but the entire day was washed out with no points played across the tournament. The players finally returned on Friday morning, where Vekic won the first-set tiebreaker 11-9 after saving multiple set points.
Vekic broke serve early in the second set and secured the victory in the ninth game. She is now scheduled to play Pliskova in the quarterfinals during the evening session as organizers attempt to catch up on the delayed schedule.
Other matches, including Katie Boulter against Leylah Fernandez, were also affected by the weather. The tournament is now compressing quarterfinals into Friday with no guarantee of further delays.