Mirjana Lucic-Baroni reached her first grand slam fourth round in 15 years on Friday when she stunned US Open second seed Simona Halep 7-6 (8-6) 6-2.

The 32-year-old Croatian, ranked at 121 in the world and who had to come through qualifying, last had such a deep run at a major at Wimbledon in 1999 when she reached the semi-finals.

Just 17 and ranked 134 at the time, she was defeated by Steffi Graf.

But her career and personal life went into freefall when she claimed she was abused by her father.

“It’s incredible, amazing, I feel goofy,” said Lucic-Baroni after knocking out world No.2 and Wimbledon runner-up Halep.

“I had a game plan and I believed I could do it. I have been playing really well. I just kept fighting.

“After so many years, it’s incredible. I live for this. I am 32. Every painful moment has been worth it.”

Lucic-Baroni, who reached a career high of 32 back in 1998, set a series of records in the 1990s.

She won the women’s doubles title at the Australian Open in 1998 with Martina Hingis when she was only 15.

She also won the first ever professional tournament she entered, the 1997 Croatian Open and defended it the following year at 16, making her the youngest player in history to successfully defend a title.

But as her relationship with her father deteriorated, her career slumped and for the best part of four years she didn’t play at all.

She missed the US Open for seven years.

On Friday, she fired 31 winners past Halep as she set up a fourth round clash against Italian 13th seed Sara Errani.