Mirjana Lucic-Baroni’s ‘fairy tale’ provided cure for post-US Open blues

The grand slams are finished, but tennis is still being played. And, in 16 years and four months into a tumultuous career, Mirjana Lucic-Baroni won her first WTA title this week.

Mirjana Lucic-Baroni reached the fourth round of the 2014 US Open. Elise Amendola / AP

The week after a grand slam usually is a tough one for tennis junkies, with most of the top stars taking a well-earned break. A few of the men turn out for their Davis Cup teams, but on the women’s side the situation usually is dire.

It is not a tennis-free week, though. The WTA staged four events, but who would have bothered with Anna-Lena Friedsam defeating Duan Ying-Yang to win the Suzhou Ladies Open in China, or Karin Knapp beating Bojana Jovanovski in the Tashkent final?

Thanks to Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, then, for providing succour. The Croat, 32, who knocked out world No 2 Simona Halep on her way to the fourth round at the US Open, carried that momentum to Quebec City, stunning Venus Williams for her first WTA title in 16 years and four months – a tour record for the biggest gap between tournament championships.

Lucic-Baroni is living a fairy tale, 10 years after virtually giving up on the sport due to financial and personal problems, including an abusive father. As a teen, she was a phenomena, winning the 1997 Croatian Open and the 1998 Australian Open doubles title at the age of 15. In 1999, she made it to the Wimbledon semis. A change in fortune seems to have arrived for her, and the same could be said about Sabine Lisicki. A Wimbledon finalist last year, the German had not won a title since the 2011 Texas Open. She ended the lean times in Hong Kong after accepting a late wild card.

So, it was not such a bad week; the play of Lucic-Baroni and Lisicki were balm for a US Open hangover.

Follow us on Twitter @SprtNationalUAE