An emotional Mirjana Lucic-Baroni has continued her remarkable run into the Australian Open semi-finals with a topsy-turvy 6-4 3-6 6-4 upset victory over No.5 seed Karolina Pliskova.
It came 18 years after Lucic-Baroni’s only previous grand slam semi-final appearance.
The Croatian then spent many years away from the sport and later claimed she had been abused from early childhood by her father.
“I can’t believe it – this is crazy,” said Lucic-Baroni.
“God is good – that’s really all I can say.”
The world No.79 said one day she would open up fully about all the hardships she has endured before this unexpected late-career renaissance.
“I know this means a lot to any player to reach the semis, but for me it is overwhelming,” she said.
The 34-year-old took a medical timeout when trailing 3-4 in the final set against Pliskova on Wednesday, before returning to streak through the final three games in a match lasting one hour and 48 minutes.
Both players had plenty of trouble serving throughout, with the Czech dropping serve three times in the decider.
Lucic-Baroni will play either six-time Open champion Serena Williams or rising British star Johanna Konta on Thursday for a place in the title match.
“It’s really tough,” Lucic-Baroni said.
“I’m going to do my best to keep calm and recover.”