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fter her inspiring Australian Open 2017 came to end, Mirjana LucicBaroni pulled her mobile phone out of her racquet bag and took a video selfie as she was applauded off Rod Laver Arena. “The court was full. It was just a beautiful moment,” Lucic-Baroni reasoned. “It was just something for me. I just want to have in my phone. It’s just that moment, full crowd, packed court. It was really a very beautiful moment.” Who could begrudge the 34-year-old for doing so? Remarkably, she'd waited almost 18 years to reach a Grand Slam semifinal again – and in a career characterised by struggle, this was a very beautiful moment indeed and one she deserved to cherish. How do you even recap the story of Lucic-Baroni’s career? Many have tried – but as LucicBaroni pointed out, no-one really knows exactly what she has endured. “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,” she revealed. “One day when I feel like talking about it, I will. Right now is not that day.” What we do know is that LucicBaroni’s life has not been easy. On-court success came early, she was a two-time junior Grand Slam champion at 14 and won the first WTA tournament she played as a 15-year-old in 1997. She won her first doubles event
too, claiming the Australian Open women’s doubles title in 1998 to set a new record as the youngest-ever champion at the tournament. But off-court her life was far from happy. As a 16-year-old she and her family fled from her abusive father, seeking political asylum in the United States. Financial difficulties followed and she became embroiled in a contentious lawsuit battle with her former management company. Consequently suffering post-traumatic stress disorder, she didn’t contest a Grand Slam between 2004 and 2009. “The way I stopped, it wasn’t really kind of by my choice. I couldn’t travel. I wasn’t able to travel. I was stopped at the moment. I didn’t want to stop. I felt kind of a little bit of unfinished business,” LucicBaroni reflected. Yet it is a period of her life Lucic-Baroni neither wants to remember, nor be defined by. “I don’t want to focus so much on that,” she told the media during the Australian Open. “I kind of want to be known as amazing fighter, a person who persevered against everything, against all odds. And that’s what I take pride in.” It’s a reputation she certainly enhanced with her heroics at Melbourne Park in 2017, where even passing the first round was a momentous result. A threeset victory over China’s Wang Qiang marked her first singles win at Melbourne Park since 1998, ending an unprecedented 19-year wait.
MAKING NEW PLANS: With a top 30 debut at age 34, Mirjana Lucic-Baroni has high ambitions for the season ahead.
AUSTRALIAN TENNIS MAGAZINE
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