A step down the comeback trail

In 1998, at the age of 15, Mirjana Lucic won an Australian Open doubles championship with partner Martina Hingis. At 17, Lucic beat Monica Seles en route to the Wimbledon semifinals.

Seemingly, her best was yet to come.

But just a few years later, personal problems forced the Croatian into a three-year hiatus.

On Tuesday at the Boar’s Head Sports Club, Lucic, now 27, took another baby step in her comeback. The wild card entry upset No. 2 seed Angela Haynes, 6-4, 6-2, in a first-round match at the Boyd Tinsley USTA Women’s $50,000 Pro Tennis Championships.

“I thought I played really well,” Lucic said. “Angie is a great player — one of the best players here. I knew I had to play really, really well to win.

“I felt like I was very prepared. I feel like my game is finally going to another level. I’m really happy with that.”

Alexa Glatch, the No. 1 seed in the tournament, takes on Julia Cohen this morning. The match will follow the one between fifth-seeded Olga Puchkova and Story Tweedie-Yates at 9 a.m. All matches are free and open to the public.

Before her hiatus, Lucic — who plays the winner of today’s Alison Riske-Tarakaa Bertrand match on Thursday — climbed to No. 32 in the world in singles and No. 19 in doubles.

It was almost on a whim that she entered the doubles competition of the Australian Open with Hingis in 1998.

“We were friends and knew each other,” Lucic said, “and somebody suggested that we go out and have some fun – and we ended up winning it.”

Two years later, Lucic nearly made it to the Wimbledon final — she lost to Steffi Graf in three sets.

But then the teenager started a steady decline that culminated with a three-year lay off.

Reportedly, Lucic had an abusive relationship with her father and a legal dispute with her management company.

Lucic has decided not to talk any further about the events that led to the hiatus.

“I feel the past is in the past,” she said, “and it’s best to leave it there and take a fresh look and step forward — and it’s working.”

Lucic entered this year’s Boyd Tinsley event ranked No. 370.

Last season was her first full year back on USTA pro circuit. The biggest thing Lucic says she’s had to regain is her confidence.

“You’re gone for so long,” she said. “Even though you never forget how to hit the ball and you know you can do it, it’s a completely different thing when you don’t have any wins behind you.

“You don’t have that match [experience].”

For the last three years, Lucic has wanted to play the Boyd Tinsley event, but her ranking wasn’t high enough and Boar’s Head Tournament Director Ron Manilla didn’t have any wild card spots.

This year, Manilla was thrilled to be able to give one to Lucic, even though past wild card entrants — including the likes of Anna Kournikova — have lost quickly.

“It’s almost like my wild card entries have been the picture on the Sports Illustrated covers,” joked Manilla, following Lucic’s straight-set triumph. “You could say she killed the Ron Manilla wild card jinx.”

Lucic is optimistic about making a run.

“Now that I’m getting lots of matches under my belt — I feel like that confidence is coming up, especially today after beating a great player,” she said. “It really does a lot for me.”