Vekic warns young stars that reaching the top is not an easy climb

HIGHLIGHTS: Karolína Pliskova d. Donna Vekic in the Brisbane semifinals

Former phenom Donna Vekic has a warning for today's young stars—it won't be a straight climb to the top.

The 22-year-old Croatian reached her first WTA final at 16 and won her first title at 17, but didn't get her second until she was 21 years old. But now, Vekic says she has found more consistency and will break into the top 30 for the first time following her semifinal appearance at Brisbane this week.

“You see all these young girls now. I don't want to name any names, but they're winning,” Vekic said. “They're like, they have the hype. And I'm like, oh, you have no idea what's in store for you. It's almost never happens. There's ups and downs in every career, every sport. Not only in sport, in life. And I think I've already gone through that, and to say I've already gone through that at 22, I think is pretty good. So I hope it's going to be a little bit more stable now.”

Vekic, who is dating Stan Wawrinka, has recently started working with Torben Beltz, Angie Kerber's former coach. She is still working on improving her game, but says one of the most important things has been becoming mature.

“I think now I'm a little bit more calm, because I know that if I do the work off the court, maybe it won't come the first week, but it'll come in one month, two months or six months, but it's going to come, because if you do the right things and if you work hard, I don't think you can not play well,” she said.

Vekic is in position for a seeding at the Australian Open.

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