5 unknown facts about giant killer Mirjana Lucic-Baroni

Modified Jan 26, 2017 03:56 GMT

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 25: Mirjana Lucic-Baroni of Croatia celebrates winning her quarterfinal match against Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic on day 10 of the 2017 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 25, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images) — Mirjana Lucic-Baroni reached her first Grand Slam semi-final in almost 18 years

#3. Before 2017, she had not won a single match at the Australian Open since 1998

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 25: Mirjana Lucic-Baroni of Croatia plays a forehand in her quarterfinal match against Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic on day 10 of the 2017 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 25, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images) — Lucic-Baroni ended a 19-year long win drought at the Australian Open by winning her first round match here

Lucic-Baroni’s first round win over Chinese Wang Qiang ended a losing streak at the Australian that had begun from 1999. She defeated Rennae Stubbs (who interviewed her after her quarter-final win today) in the first round of the 1998 Australian Open following which, she was beaten by compatriot and then fourth seed Iva Majoli in the second round.Ever since that defeat, Lucic-Baroni never won a match until this year. In between, she played in a total of seven Australian Opens in 1999, 2000, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016. In six out of seven tournaments, she was beaten in straight sets. The closest she came to winning was in 2016 where she was up against Kirsten Flipkens. Lucic-Baroni took the first set 7-5 before Flipkens rebounded well by taking the next two sets by the scoreline of 6-2, 7-5.

Edited by Staff Editor