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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 23, 2017

Mirjana Lucic-Baroni

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

M. LUCIC-BARONI/J. Brady

6-4, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Have you gotten used to this week yet? Does it still feel like a dream? Are you clicked in at this point?
MIRJANA LUCIC-BARONI: I'm clicked in, for sure. I'm calm and focused now. Again, it was a really fun moment on the court. I celebrate those. Then I'm okay after. But, yeah, super fun.

Q. I noticed your clothes. You were wearing an adidas T-shirt and Nike skirt. You've not got a contract with anybody? How long has it been since you had one?
MIRJANA LUCIC-BARONI: It's been a little while. It's been a little while. I wear whatever. A little bit of everything.

Q. Whatever is comfortable?
MIRJANA LUCIC-BARONI: Yeah, whatever I find that I feel like wearing that day.

Q. Obviously we know you reached the Wimbledon semifinals back in the day. The emotions you felt at that point in your life, can you compare to what you feel now in a major quarterfinal again?
MIRJANA LUCIC-BARONI: So much better now. It's incredible now. I mean, back then was kind of expected of me and it was normal. I won a lot as a junior. Then I won a lot as soon as I started playing pro. It was kind of normal. It was normal to win tournaments, normal to win big matches and go far. I mean, it was incredible, of course, but it was more normal.

But now it's been so long, it's extra fun, it's extra special, for sure.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about how you feel physically.
MIRJANA LUCIC-BARONI: Great (laughter). I'm still very much in both singles and doubles, so I'm just going to keep quiet, keep on taping. I'm not going to talk much about it. I'm still here. I'm still fighting.

The heart is hundred percent, so that's all that matters.

Q. After the match, you had a funny on-court moment. Can you talk about where inside you that came from.
MIRJANA LUCIC-BARONI: I don't know. It's that moment after you just win. I'm a very honest person. When somebody asks me a question, things just come out.

I didn't curse. It was just the way I felt at that very moment. They asked me what would you tell to somebody. I think that was the question. Yeah, in that moment, that was my opinion.

Q. Is it the case that you do have knockers or doubters, people that bring you down? That was very defiant, a very defiant statement.
MIRJANA LUCIC-BARONI: Well, people think they know a lot about my history, but they really do not. One day when I feel like talking about it, I will. Right now is not that day.

But people think they know. They have no idea. A lot of the times when I hear, like, injuries and things, those were not the problems at all. Yeah, I had some interesting people I worked with and interesting people that had interesting opinions. That was very defiant, and it was very much my honest opinion at that moment today.

Q. Is the prominent feeling joy or is it something else?
MIRJANA LUCIC-BARONI: Oh, no, it's pure joy. It's pure joy. It was just they asked me a question, and that was the first thing that kind of came out of my mouth.

But, no, no, it's pure joy. There's no other feeling than bliss.

Q. You said you don't want to say too much about your private life, I guess. Do you speak Italian after your wedding, companionship with Mr. Baroni or not?
MIRJANA LUCIC-BARONI: Judging by your accent, you're Italian.

Q. Yes.
MIRJANA LUCIC-BARONI: I should say I speak. I understand pretty good. I don't speak a lot of Italian. But with my in-laws, with my sister-in-law, my parents-in-law, a little bit. Not very good. We live in States and we speak English, mostly English to each other, to our family and friends.

No, I don't speak very good Italian.

Q. Do you still have an Italian restaurant?
MIRJANA LUCIC-BARONI: My husband does. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He has a couple in Sarasota.

Q. Are you involved in that?
MIRJANA LUCIC-BARONI: I eat a lot there, yes (smiling). The food is good. The food is very good. I eat there most of the time, yes.

Q. You don't cook, don't serve the tables, you do nothing?
MIRJANA LUCIC-BARONI: No, I don't do that part. I cook for my husband and with my husband a lot. We enjoy cooking a lot together, we do that a lot. But not in the restaurant.

Q. What do you do for him?
MIRJANA LUCIC-BARONI: I make probably the best or very good porcini risotto.

Q. Am I invited?
MIRJANA LUCIC-BARONI: We can try. You can be the judge. You can tell me if it's good. My mother-in-law taught me. My husband says it's really good, so...

Q. Thoughts on your next opponent, either Pliskova or Gavrilova?
MIRJANA LUCIC-BARONI: Pliskova I played a few times but always have super tough matches. Obviously playing great tennis right now, probably the best tennis of her career. Doing amazing.

Same for Gavrilova. We never played each other. I don't think we have even ever practiced together.

Yeah, right now I'm just going to relax, watch the match a little bit, see how they're playing, what's going on, worry about it tomorrow.

Q. Was it tough being in a match today where you might have felt like a favorite this deep into a slam? Is that a different mindset at all?
MIRJANA LUCIC-BARONI: No, I never look at it like that. I didn't even have a chance to look at any of her matches on video. So I kind of just asked around.

My coach watched a bit. It's strange. Until you go on court and actually feel somebody else's ball, it's different.

I thought she started really well in the beginning. She was handling the pace. She was doing pretty good. But I knew if I just keep pressing that I was going to get a step ahead. I was able to do that.

No, I walk into every match completely focused. I didn't feel like a favorite or that the other day I wasn't a favorite. I just walked into a tennis match with a plan to win. That's it.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about your training. You're almost going to be 35. Is it more difficult? A little bit about the hours you put in. Also, having been at that level earlier, are you more primed for the big matches than someone who may have been in a different situation coming up?
MIRJANA LUCIC-BARONI: For sure it's a little bit different now that I'm 34 and some more. It's different. Training is different. My fitness coach calls me 'The Beast' because I can work really hard. We had a really great off-season. We worked really hard.

Yeah, just also now it's a matter of being smart. When you do have couple aches and pains, we don't spend, like, four hours on court, we don't spend three hours. We spend less time on court but more quality. It's about being smart right now.

But, no, I'm used to playing a lot. I'm tougher than I look. Even last year I played finals of Strasbourg from quallies. I'm used to playing. My body knows what to do, how to recover, to play a lot of matches in a row. I can still do that.

Q. Another thing about the restaurant. What is the name of the restaurant? Where is it exactly? How long has it been running for?
MIRJANA LUCIC-BARONI: We have two. They're in Sarasota. One is called Cafe Epicure. The other one is called Mediterraneo. They've been running for over 20 years.

Q. Your husband is here or no?
MIRJANA LUCIC-BARONI: No, not here, unfortunately. He's busy.

Q. You said in a lot of interviews you never thought of quitting. I'm not sure why exactly you didn't. You wanted to come back for the sake of it, because you were interrupted early in your career? What made you keep on?
MIRJANA LUCIC-BARONI: The way I stopped, it wasn't really kind of by my choice. I couldn't travel. I wasn't able to travel. I was stopped at the moment. I didn't want to stop. I felt kind of a little bit of unfinished business. I still wanted to play on a stage like this, on a full court like this. Come out, play, have these wins, be in a quarterfinal of a slam, have a chance to fight for a semifinal. Those are incredible moments. Those are incredible accomplishments. I knew I'm able to do that.

They're incredible feelings. I've done this sport since I was a little kid. These are kind of, like, awards for all the hard work, for the off-season, incredibly difficult off-season, a lot of work. These are the awards for that. It's very satisfying.

I feel like my husband should pay me some extra money for this, at least half the restaurant should be mine.

Q. Is your mother staying in the USA with you?
MIRJANA LUCIC-BARONI: Yes.

Q. Separate house, I guess?
MIRJANA LUCIC-BARONI: Yeah, it's a separate house, yeah, yeah.

Q. You have no children in project?
MIRJANA LUCIC-BARONI: Not yet, as far as I know, no. No, we are very happily married. I still want to play a little bit more, enjoy, and then God willing.

Q. How old is Mr. Baroni?
MIRJANA LUCIC-BARONI: I think you might have to give a phone call to Mr. Baroni.

Q. What is his first name?
MIRJANA LUCIC-BARONI: Daniela.

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