Donna Vekic was very emotional during her first round match against Cristina Bucsa at the Merida Open.
Vekic reached the Wimbledon semifinals less than two years ago, and has been ranked as high as 17 in the world.
It was that same year where the Croatian won a silver medal at the Paris Olympics, with Vekic recently admitting she is nearing retirement.
Despite producing some more encouraging results recently, Vekic was left in tears during her latest match against Bucsa.
Donna Vekic breaks down in tears during her defeat at the Merida Open
Vekic won just 14 of her 23 tour matches last year, but she had already shown more encouraging signs this year after dropping down a level to play at the WTA 125 event in Manila, where she reached the final.
The world number 100 was searching for her first match win of the year on the main WTA Tour, with Vekic entering the tournament in Merida.
This is where she would play Bucsa in the first round, but it once again resulted in a defeat for Vekic, who was beaten 6-3 6-2.
What was particularly notable about this match for Vekic was her reaction after losing the first set of the match, where she was left in tears when sat down on the bench.
Vekic has now lost her last five tour-level matches, with her last victory coming against world number 344 Sahaja Yamalapalli at the Chennai Open in October.
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Donna Vekic is at risk of falling to her lowest ranking in 11 years
Due to Vekic’s recent form, she now risks falling to her lowest ranking since 2015, when she was just 19 years old.
After losing in the first round of the Australian Open, Vekic suffered a significant drop down the rankings and is now on the verge of dropping outside the top 100.
Vekic reached the fourth round of Indian Wells last year, and therefore is defending 120 points at this year’s tournament.
Due to her current ranking, Vekic will have to play qualifying at Indian Wells this year and therefore risks dropping a significant proportion of these points.
If Vekic loses in the first round of Indian Wells qualifying next week then she will lose 118 ranking points.
This would currently position Vekic as the world number 123 in the live WTA rankings, which would be her lowest ranking since September 2015.
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As a result, it would mean that Vekic would not receive direct entry for Grand Slams and therefore could increase the likelihood of her retiring in the near future.
Vekic also has another 120 points to defend at the Madrid Open, increasing the pressure on her to find some form sooner rather than later.
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