Surprise packet Mirjana Lucic-Baroni will seek to cause an upset against world no.5 Karolina Pliskova in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 11.00am (AEDT).
Lucic-Baroni arrived at the Australian Open having not reached the final eight of a Grand Slam since 1999.
She started 2017 in Auckland and Sydney, but couldn’t get past the second round of either tournament. However, her Australian Open campaign has brought more success, the veteran putting together four consecutive convincing wins – one of those coming over the world no.3 and last year’s semi-finalist in Agnieszka Radwanska.
In her most recent match against Jennifer Brady, Lucic-Baroni belted a whopping 35 winners on her way to a comfortable straight sets win.
Lucic-Baroni is riding a wave of confidence , and her No.79 ranking does very little to reflect the quality of tennis she has produced over the past week. Having said that, this is certain to be the biggest challenge she has faced so far.
Pliskova ended three of her four matches in straight sets, with the other featuring an incredibly gritty comeback to snatch victory over talented youngster Jelena Ostapenko.
The fast surface suits Pliskova’s ball-bashing game style, and to prove it, look no further than her average 31 winners per match. Pliskova will be wary of the danger that Lucic-Baroni poses and will seek to reproduce the offensive production that has brought her this far.
These two have met each other five times in the past. Pliskova holds a 3-2 lead overall and a 2-1 lead in their hard court encounters. She has also won their most recent match which was back in 2015.
Don’t let the ranking disparity fool you – this will be a great match. Pliskova will definitely need to produce something near her best to win, and if she does, she will definitely win.
Simply, Lucic-Baroni’s best is well below Pliskova’s best. Although the Croat has done well to get this far, she has not faced a player of Pliskova’s calibre yet. Sure, she beat Radwanska, who is crafty, skillful and clever, but she does not have the enormous striking power that Pliskova has.
Prediction
This match will have plenty in it early on as both players try to get the measure of each other. Lucic-Baroni needs to play smartly to defeat Pliskova – if she enters a baseline battle (as she has done with every opponent thus far), she is almost certain to lose. It wouldn’t be surprising to see a set get taken off Pliskova, but she should win.
Pliskova in three sets.
Join The Roar for live coverage of this quarter-final from 11am (AEDT).
Vinay Lakshman
Roar Rookie
What a spectacular match that was! Lucic-Baroni's last Semi-Final was 1999! She will face either Serena Williams or Johanna Konta in the Semi and you'd have to say that match will also be an absolute roof-raiser! Thank you for joining The Roar in this Live coverage of the Women's Quarter-Final between Karolina Pliskova and Mirjana Lucic-Baroni. I hope you enjoyed it, see you next time!
Vinay Lakshman
Roar Rookie
POST-MATCH INTERVIEW: MLB: All I can say is God is Great, I can't believe it, I really can't believe it. *Bursts into tears again* I never could dream of coming to this stage...I will never ever forget this day or the past couple of weeks...everything bad that has happened in my life seems worth it now because of this and it just incredible. Incredible show of emotion and passion from a player who has encountered some enormous difficulties in her personal life. Simply remarkable performance. She has won a lot of fans today with her attitude, playing style and sentiment. Truly well deserved.
Vinay Lakshman
Roar Rookie
6-4 3-6 6-4 SERVICE HOLD by Lucic-Baroni 3rd SET WINNER: MIRJANA LUCIC-BARONI MATCH WINNER: MIRJANA LUCIC-BARONI Pliskova hits the net and MLB WINS!!!!!! WHAT A WIN!! MLB sinks to her knees and bursts into tears, incredible scenes here. She definitely deserved the win and was the better player for the majority of the match. Pliskova never really looked like getting a run-on and in the end MLB did more than enough to seal it. She is into the final 4, I repeat, Mirjana Lucic-Baroni the World Number 79, is INTO THE LAST 4!
Vinay Lakshman
Roar Rookie
6-4 3-6 5-4 SERVICE BREAK by Lucic-Baroni What a meltdown this is for Pliskova, MLB breaks TO LOVE as Pliskova sends numerous unforced errors down the other end. MLB is 1 service hold from victory here. Is there another twist in the tale though?
Vinay Lakshman
Roar Rookie
6-4 3-6 4-4 SERVICE HOLD from Lucic-Baroni WOW! That was by far the most comfortable service hold we have seen in this match! MLB smacks 3 Aces and gets a Service Winner as well to finish off the hold to love. What a response.
Vinay Lakshman
Roar Rookie
MLB is back out there now, she looks fine. The match continues!
Vinay Lakshman
Roar Rookie
MEDICAL TIME-OUT: Mirjana Lucic-Baroni goes off the Court after taking a Medical TO. It isn't clear what the TO is for but it will be interesting to see how this affects the match. Pliskova was starting to generate some momentum for the first time in the match, will this break in play change that?
Vinay Lakshman
Roar Rookie
6-4 3-6 3-4 SERVICE HOLD from Pliskova Pliskova holds to 15! MLB venting frustration toward her box as the Czech player edges ahead in this decider. Unforced Errors are starting to increase for MLB and her forehand is being taken away by Pliskova who is hitting with more purpose now.
Vinay Lakshman
Roar Rookie
Pliskova's Coach is on his feet trying to pump up his charge. She certainly seems a bit more level-headed now.
Vinay Lakshman
Roar Rookie
6-4 3-6 3-3 SERVICE BROKEN by Pliskova The Sun is giving MLB some troubles at the moment, Pliskova taking advantage of the slower serves and drawing things level yet again. This match just keeps going up a level.
Vinay Lakshman
Roar Rookie
6-4 3-6 3-2 SERVICE HOLD by Pliskova Plisko stays in touch with her first service hold for the set. A very comfortable one too as she holds to 15. She is still very much in this!
Scott Pryde
Expert
Well, this is unexpected.
Vinay Lakshman
Roar Rookie
6-4 3-6 3-1 SERVICE HOLD by Lucic-Baroni Could that be the hold that does it? Pliskova throws her racquet away in frustration. She gave up on another very reachable ball in that game, MLB winning both the technical and mental battle on court at the moment. Plisko has come back from much worse positions than this though....
Vinay Lakshman
Roar Rookie
6-4 3-6 2-1 SERVICE BREAK by Pliskova The 12th break of the match and the 3rd consecutive break in this 3rd set!! Pliskova looked all at sea in that service game, MLB takes the break with a powerful cross-court forehand winner. She has been nailing those today.
Vinay Lakshman
Roar Rookie
6-4 3-6 1-1 SERVICE BREAK by Pliskova 2 consecutive double-faults from MLB gives Pliskova 2 break points...she only needs one to square the ledger again. A ton of breaks in this match!
Vinay Lakshman
Roar Rookie
3RD SET 6-4 3-6 1-0 SERVICE BREAK by Lucic-Baroni Not the best start from Pliskova, she is stalled at Deuce, a couple of unforced errors gives away her serve.
Vinay Lakshman
Roar Rookie
6-4 3-6 SERVICE BROKEN by Pliskova 2ND SET WINNER: KAROLINA PLISKOVA Pliskova breaks for the 4th time in a row this Set and pushes the match to a decider! A very up-and-down 2nd set for both players, it's still anyone's guess as to who wins this. MLB's serve doesn't look as untouchable as it was in the 1st, having said that Pliskova's serve hasn't looked very good either! I still think Plisko will take this one but I'm happy to be proven wrong!
Vinay Lakshman
Roar Rookie
Cheers Ryman! Fortunately it's been a great match thus far!
Vinay Lakshman
Roar Rookie
6-4 3-5 SERVICE HOLD from Pliskova Wow what an entertaining game that was! Pliskova strangely gave up on a very gettable shot, and then pulls off an incredible running return to seal the hold! She is now 1 game away from taking this 2nd set.
Ryman White
Editor
G'day Vinay – nice work on your first call so far!