Croatian Mirjana Lucic-Baroni has celebrated her drought-busting run to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open with a foul-mouthed but joyful 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.
Croatia's Mirjana Lucic-Baroni celebrates her win over Jennifer Brady.Credit: AP
It's understood to be 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.
"F--- everything and f--- everybody who tells you you can't do it," she exclaimed.
On her last visit to the second week of a major, Lucic-Baroni reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon in 1999 as a 17-year-old.
Her last match win at Melbourne Park before the 2017 tournament came in 1998 in the first round against Rennae Stubbs.
The tennis prodigy spent time away from the tour in the mid-2000s, speaking widely about her upbringing with an abusive father.
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.
AAP