How Mirjana Lucic-Baroni Threw A Wrench Into The French Open
— -- PARIS -- If Mirjana Lucic-Baroni wasn't a tennis player, she would like to be an archaeologist. She's 33, so perhaps such a career isn't that far off into the future. And if so, maybe she could one day dig up the clay at Suzanne Lenglen. Because that's where she buried Simona Halep in the second round of the French Open on Wednesday.
The third-ranked Halep reached the finals here in 2014 and was considered a favorite to win this year -- more ESPN experts picked her to win than picked Serena Williams -- but she won't even reach the third round after Lucic-Baroni beat her in straight sets 7-5, 6-1.
"I knew it would suit her better than me, this surface," Lucic-Baroni said. "But I love clay. I grew up in Croatia playing on clay my whole life. I'm really comfortable. I do prefer it much faster, but I played really well. When I play really well, it works on any surface."
Evidently so when she plays Halep. The two had played just once before, during last year's US Open, and Lucic-Baroni whipped Halep on the hard court almost as handily then 7-6, 6-2.
Halep has won three tournaments this year but none on clay. She made it to the semifinals in Rome and Stuttgart but was bounced in the first round in Madrid.
"I didn't play like last year on clay this year," Halep said. "So it was more difficult to come here -- I couldn't feel that I'm prepared 100 percent to play on clay court, but I have to accept this. I have to take day by day. I worked a lot. Maybe too much. That's why I was contracted and I couldn't play."
The first set was relatively close, but the second was all Lucic-Baroni. While Halep tended to hit shots on the middle of the court, her opponent spread her shots across the court with Halep repeatedly unable to reach or return them.
"Maybe I changed a bit the strategy of my practices," Halep said. "I just wanted to hit too strong maybe, and to change the game is not good. I have to play like what I feel on court and just to create the game. So I started to hit the ball too strong, and that is not my style. I don't feel it, and I don't handle it. So I have to go back in my game and just to train again how I did 'til now."
After completing her upset with an ace, Lucic-Baroni turned around, let her racket drop to the ground and thrust out her fingers in a look of thrill and amazement. "I am so proud of myself. It's such a huge win," she said.
Lucic-Baroni, who resides in Florida, is 33, just six months younger than Serena Williams. Lucic-Baroni had success at a young age -- she reached the semis at Wimbledon at age 16 in 1998 -- before personal issues derailed her career. Currently ranked No. 70, she is playing in the third round at Roland Garros for the first time in 14 years.
"I feel like I missed my best years, for sure," she said. "There is nothing I can do right now. There is no point of thinking about it too much. Just enjoying right now where I am."
And that's the third round against France's Alize Cornet. "I hope at least three people will cheer for me," she said with a laugh.
Well, that's three more than will be able to cheer Halep.
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