Mirjana's fairytale continues

Croatian puts troubles behind her to end 18-year wait for Slam semi

Courageous Mirjana Lucic-Baroni wept tears of joy on Wednesday as she described making her first Grand Slam semifinal since the 1999 Wimbledon as "pure ecstasy".

The Croat, a former teenage prodigy whose career was derailed by personal trauma, swept into the Australian Open last four by upsetting fifth seed Karolina Pliskova 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in an epic match at Rod Laver Arena.