AusCro Supporting the Community

Then, when she was 17, and ranked 134, she stunned Monica Seles on her way to the 1999 Wimbledon semifinals, where she took a set off Steffi Graf before losing.

But her career and private life then went into freefall.

She accused her father of physical abuse before she – as well as her mother and four siblings – staged a night-time escape to the United States.

Lucic disappeared off the WTA radar for four years, her desperate financial troubles preventing her from travelling to tournaments.

But she launched a gentle comeback which saw her make the second round of the US Open in 2010 in what was just her second major appearance in eight years.

“I never quit,” said 29-year-old Lucic, who is back in the world 100 and will be at Wimbledon again this year.

“It wasn’t that I lost my love for tennis, it was family problems. It was all very unfortunate.

“The reason why I went away, the reason my career didn’t go necessarily the way I thought it would and I planned it would, was just family issues. But once that has been sort of taken away for years, you haven’t had that feeling, it’s incredible. Every match gives me such satisfaction.”

Florida-based Lucic has certainly registered with the modern generation.

“I used to see a lot of her because she lived close to the (Bolletieri) academy. I knew that she had great results in the past and that she can play,” said Sharapova.

STRASBOURG, France — Croatia’s Mirjana Lucic won the battle of the former prodigies beating Australia’s Jelena Dokic in straight sets to reach her first quarter-finals in 12 years at the WTA Strasbourg Open on Wednesday.

The 29-year-old US-based player, who had to come through the qualifiers here this week, eased past Dokic 6-2, 6-2 in their second round match.