Mirjana Lucic-Baroni is looking to build on her career-reviving run at the Australian Open, defeating Kateryna Bondarenko to reach the third round of Miami.
The 35-year-old won five matches in the first Grand Slam of the year to get to her first Major semifinal since 1999, falling to Serena Williams, and now wants to keep up that level of play.
"Melbourne was exciting, it happened, but it already feels like it happened a long time ago. I definitely enjoyed it, but I don't want to be stuck thinking about that," she told the WTA website in an interview. "Look where we are -- we're in Miami, another big tournament."
The teenage prodigy whose career was interrupted by family and financial problems is now at a career-high No. 29 ranking. She's enjoying the benefits of a higher ranking, which include a first-round bye at Miami.
"For sure, it gives you one match less to play than your opponents and it's tricky because it's your first match. But I'm not complaining," said Lucic-Baroni. "It's absolutely nice to not have to play on the first day, to not have to play qualifiers, to be a little fresher and start with the second round. It's a very good thing."
She also told the WTA that food poisoning affected her at her previous tournaments in Acapulco and Indian Wells, where she fell to 17-year-old Kayla Day. The age difference in that match, like her long gap between Slam semifinals, again drew attention to Lucic-Baroni's position as an elder on the WTA tour, but she insisted she does not let it bother her.
"It mostly makes me laugh because I've been on tour so long, and so I guess that's funny," she said. "It's interesting for people who ask those questions because it's been so many years and I'm still here. But I don't take it to heart.
"If you don't pay my bills, you don't have a lot to say that's personally going to hurt me."
She plays Agnieszka Radwanska in the next round.
