Croatian Mirjana Lucic-Baroni has celebrated her drought-busting run to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open with a defiant tirade on Margaret Court Arena.

The 34-year-old won through to her first major quarter-final in 18 years on Monday with a 6-4 6-2 success over qualifier Jennifer Brady.

It’s the longest break between appearances in the last eight at grand slams in tennis history.

Understandably, the world No.79 became emotional with the success during an on-court interview.

“I’m a tough little cookie and really, really stubborn,” Lucic-Baroni said.

“When I want something, I will work really hard and I will do whatever it takes to get it.

“It’s not a guarantee, by any means, that you’re going to get there, but man, what satisfaction I feel right now.

“And I will say to anybody struggling out there … F-everything and everybody who ever tells you you can’t do it.

“Just show up and do it with your heart.”

Lucic-Baroni’s comeback story is widely under-appreciated.

She reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon in 1999 as a 17-year-old, and her last match win at Melbourne Park before the 2017 tournament came in 1998 in the first round against Rennae Stubbs.

The year before that – a whole two decades ago – she claimed the junior girls title.

But her career stalled, and she has not come close to repeating her Wimbledon run – until now.

The tennis prodigy spent time away from the tour in the mid-2000s, which she has linked to her upbringing with an abusive father.

Later on Monday, Lucic-Baroni said her on-court message wasn’t a targeted barb but an outburst of joy.

“People think they know a lot about my history, but they really do not,” she said.

“A lot of the times when I hear, injuries and things (were the reason I was out), those were not the problems at all.

“One day when I feel like talking about it, I will. Right now is not that day.

“They asked me a question, and that was the first thing that kind of came out of my mouth.

“It’s pure joy. There’s no other feeling than bliss.”

This is her most significant run in her rebooted tennis career.

She will be the lowest-ranked player in the Australian Open quarter-finals, and will start as an outsider to make the last four against either Australian Daria Gavrilova or fifth-seed Karolina Pliskova on Wednesday.