MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) 鈥� Australian Open tennis player Donna Vekic sent a message of support to her coach, Pam Shriver, and others in the greater Los Angeles area dealing with the 鈥� drawing a heart and writing 鈥淟A鈥� in blue ink on a courtside TV camera after a victory on Sunday.
Vekic, who reached last July and won a silver medal for Croatia last August, defeated Diane Parry of France 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of this season's first Grand Slam tournament.
Players on bigger courts at various tennis tournaments often are handed a pen and encouraged to write something on the lens of a television camera. Vekic used the opportunity at the Australian Open to offer good vibes to California, where she trained with Shriver during her sport's just-concluded preseason.
鈥淲e were just there two weeks ago,鈥� Vekic said. 鈥淪o I really cannot believe what鈥檚 happening.鈥�
She said she is in touch daily with , who won 21 Grand Slam titles in doubles and reached No. 3 in singles as a player.
鈥淚t's a very difficult situation for her," Vekic said. "She鈥檚 home in L.A. Her house is OK for now, but so many have lost everything, and it鈥檚 a horrible situation.鈥�
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AP tennis:
The Associated Press
