Tenth time is a charm for Croatia’s Mirjana Lucic-Baroni after she finally ended her 18-year run of not winning a main draw match at the Miami Open.
At the age of 17, the Croat seemed destined for future stardom. She had already won two junior grand slam titles as well as her first WTA trophy in 1997. Gracing her presence at the 1999 Miami Open, she progressed to the third round before losing to 12th seed Patty Schnyder. It was a encouraging performance by Lucic-Baroni, who went on to reach the Wimbledon semifinals later that year. Little did she know that it would be her last taste of Miami success for almost two decades.
The blossoming career of the Croatian teenager turned into one crushed by serious personal struggles. In the late 1990s, Lucic-Baroni fled Croatia after revealing that she had been mentally and physically abused by her father over a ten-year period. The move took its toll on her family and inevitably her career. She would go through her 20s fighting for her tennis dream whilst struggling financially. It was a painful part of her life that she is still reluctant to talk about.
“People think they know a lot about my history, but they really do not. One day when I feel like talking about it, I will. Right now is not that day.” She said during her shock run to the Australian Open semifinals in January. “But people think they know. They have no idea. A lot of the times when I hear, like, injuries and things, those were not the problems at all.”
Lucic-Baroni’s roller coaster journey is one that is also illustrated in Miami. Following 1999, she has entered the tournament nine times without grabbing a main draw win. Between 2000-2016, she failed to win her first round match five times and crashed out in qualifying on four occasions.
The Miami breakthrough
It seemed like a 10th consecutive disappointment was destined to happen in this year’s tournament. Facing Ukraine’s Kateryna Bondarenko, the world No.26 trailed 1-5 in the decider. Once again facing adversity, the 35-year-old defeated the odds to stage a sensational comeback and win 6-2, 2-6, 7-6(2).
“I was first really annoyed with myself that I was in that situation, because I feel that I’m in good form and I feel that I’m playing really well,” Lucic-Baroni said. “…I knew that I could come back. I’m always a tough fighter and I try to play one point at a time, and I believed I could come back.”
The Miami achievements mirror those at the Australian Open when she reached the last four at a grand slam for the first time since 1999. It was a glorious achievement for a player who had gone through so much, but the stubborn Lucic-Baroni refuses to get caught up in the moment.
“Melbourne was exciting, it happened, but it already feels like it happened a long time ago. I definitely enjoyed it, but I don’t want to be stuck thinking about that. Look where we are: we’re in Miami, another big tournament. My feet are on the ground, and I’m fighting for every match.” She told wtatennis.com.
Now in her mid-thirties Lucic-Baroni is at a ranking best 29th in the world. A veteran on the tour, she is currently the third oldest player in the top-100 after the Williams sisters. An impressive achievement for a player who was once told her career would be over if she didn’t achieve ‘huge results’ by the age of 20.
“Fifteen, 20 years ago when I [was] just starting, I mean Hingis was [a teenager]—Venus, Serena, myself, we were so young. If you weren’t good by the time you were 16 or 17, you were finished.
“At some point, somebody in my team told me I was done when I was 20 because I wasn’t making huge results. At 20, they told me my career was over.”
As Lucic-Baroni continues to inspire in Miami, her next test will be against Agnieszka Radwanska in the third round. Earlier this year she stunned Radwanska 6-3, 6-2, in Melbourne.
