Mirjana Lucic-Baroni has had a new taste of victory and says she is "ready to keep going."
Lucic won the title in Quebec City this weekend, her first in 16 years, four months—a new WTA record. The former prodigy won the Bol title at 15 and defended it at 16, but her career was then disrupted when she left Croatia to get away from her abusive father and had to stop playing for a few years because of lack of funding.
Lucic, 32, defeated 34-year-old Venus Williams in what was also her first final in 16 years, four months, following her first semifinal since reaching the Wimbledon semifinals in 1999.
"I played such a great match today against one of the best players in the world, such a champion," she told WTATennis.com. "It was so long ago, I don't even remember what it's like to hold a trophy in my hands."
Lucic upset world No. 2 Simona Halep en route to the U.S. Open fourth round. Back injuries affected her at the start of the season, but she says she is now fit and credits new coach and former ATP player Julian Alonso for some of her resurgence.
"It's been so long. I'm finally playing the great tennis I always knew I could play," she said. "I'm so ready to keep going."
Lucic also won the doubles title, her first in 16 years, seven months. She is now up 24 spots to No. 56 in the rankings and within sight of her career-high of No. 32, achieved in 1998. Though Lucic returned to the Top 100 in 2010, she had not finished a season in the Top 100 since 1999.
She will now return home to Florida, where her husband is a restaurant owner. "We'll open a good bottle of champagne. I'll find the most expensive one in his restaurant," she said.
Williams, who was bidding for her first title since Dubai in February, is now ranked No. 18.