Next month marks the 20th anniversary of Mariana Lucic-Baroni’s first title on the WTA Tour, but this week is also an important milestone in her career.
Making her presence at this week’s Mexican Open in Acapulco, the Croat is seeded first in a WTA tournament for the first time in her career. She rightfully earned the top seed status following her dream run at the Australian Open last month where she stunned Agnieszka Radwanska and Karolina Pliskova on route to the semifinals, her best performance in a major since 1999.
Lucic-Baroni’s latest win in Mexico occurred against France’s Pauline Parmentier, who she defeated 6-2, 6-3, to book a place in the semifinals of the tournament. During the roller coaster match, where she dropped serve three times, the 35-year-old won 57% of her service points and broke her opponent six times in the match.
“It was very close; it was closer than the score. The points were tough. I think this court suited her. It took off with her spin and she made me work hard. I feel good right now and I’m glad I’m through.” Lucic-Baroni told wtatennis.com.
“I’m just going to recover, do the same as every day and try to feel as good as possible for tomorrow. Then I’ll be back to give it another go!”
Bidding to win her first title since 2014, Lucic-Baroni will face world No.50 Lesia Tsurenko in the semifinals. The Ukrainian secured her last four place after battling past Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 7-6(5), in just under two hours.
Second seed Kristina Mladenovic continued her campaign with a 6-4, 6-3, win over Kirsten Flipkens. Playing a day after her marathon clash against Great Britain’s Heather Watson, Mladenovic hit 21 winners compared to 13 unforced errors.
“I fixed the big problem I had on my serve yesterday, when I hit 20 double faults! Only five today! I think overall it was a great match; I had to be very consistent, but also aggressive because Kirsten has a lot of variety, and it’s not easy to control her slices here.” Said Mladenovic.
“The ball is flying here, but I think I did a good job playing aggressive, but also being patient with her tricky game. I’m just very happy to come back after yesterday’s tough win.”
The world No.30 will next play Christina McHale, who dismissed Olympic champion Monica Puig 6-2, 6-2.
