GORAN IVANISEVIC
Name: Goran Ivanisevic
Born: 13 September 1971 Split, Croatia.
Goran Šimun Ivanisevic (born in Split, September 13, 1971)
is a former professional tennis player from Croatia. He is best remembered for
being the only person to win the men's singles title at Wimbledon as a wildcard.
He achieved this in 2001, having previously been runner-up at the championships
in 1992, 1994 and 1998. Ivanisevic is famous for his strong serve, which is one
of the greatest to date. His career-high singles ranking was World No. 2 (behind
Pete Sampras) in 1994.
Ivanisevic was born in Split, Croatia, in the former Yugoslavia. He turned
professional in 1988, and won his first career doubles title later that year in
Frankfurt (with Rüdiger Haas).
Ivanisevic made his first significant impact on the tennis world in 1990. In the
French Open, he knocked-out Boris Becker in the first round of the men's singles
and went on to reach the quarter-finals. Becker reportedly remarked about
Ivanisevic that "even God could not have played any better". He was also runner-up
in the French Open men's doubles (with Petr Korda). A few weeks later at
Wimbledon, Ivanisevic made it all the way to the semi-finals, where he again met
Becker and put up an impressive display before going down in four sets. Becker
predicted after the match Ivanisevic would be a future Wimbledon champion.
Ivanisevic also won his tour first singles title in 1990 at Stuttgart, and
helped Yugoslavia win the World Team Cup.
Ivanisevic quickly became known on the tour for his strong, attacking style of
play and for an extremely powerful serve. For several years, he was the leading
scorer of aces on the tour. A brilliant player, who was capable of beating
anyone in the world when he was at his very best, he was also known for
occasional on-court temper tantrums and, from time-to-time, for "tanking" in
matches (particularly in final sets) and being blown away by opponents he was
capable of beating.
Ivanisevic lost in the second round at Wimbledon in 1991.
In 1992 Ivanisevic reached the Wimbledon singles final, where he faced Andre
Agassi. Both up-and-coming stars were gunning for their first Grand Slam title.
In a dramatic five-set encounter, it was Agassi who eventually won 6-7, 6-4, 6-4,
1-6, 6-4. Later that summer, at the Olympic Games in Barcelona, Ivanisevic won
Bronze Medals in both singles and doubles for the newly-independent nation of
Croatia. He also won four singles titles that year. He also courted controversy
during the championships by not only expressing his strong Croatian patriotic
sentiments during the period of independence from Yugoslavia, but also urging
the top women's player Monica Seles (a Serbia-born ethnic Hungarian) to publicly
express her stance, which she refused to do.
Olympic medal record
Men’s Tennis
Bronze 1992 Barcelona Singles
Bronze 1992 Barcelona Doubles
Ivanisevic reached the Wimbledon final for the second time in 1994, where he was
defeated by defending-champion Pete Sampras in three sets, 7-6, 7-6, 6-0.
Ivanisevic reached his career-high singles ranking of World No. 2 in July that
year.
In 1995, Ivanisevic won the Grand Slam Cup, beating Todd Martin in the final 7-6,
6-3, 6-4. Continuing his strong performances at the Wimbledon tournament, he
would reach the semifinals that year, losing to Pete Sampras in a hard fought
five set match, 7-6 4-6 6-3 4-6 6-3.
In 1996 he won a career-best five singles titles. He reached the Grand Slam Cup
final again, but this time lost to Becker in straight sets. He set a tour record
by serving 1,477 aces over the course of the season. Ivanisevic also teamed-up
with Iva Majoli to win the 1996 Hopman Cup for Croatia. Ivanisevic would also
reach his first Grand Slam semifinal other than Wimbledon at the U.S. Open that
year, falling once again to Pete Sampras in four sets.
In 1998, Ivanisevic reached his third Wimbledon final. He faced Sampras again
and pushed him to five sets before losing a closely-fought contest 6-7, 7-6, 6-4,
3-6, 6-2. After three final defeats, many people wondered if the man often
touted as a future Wimbledon winner would ever fulfill his promise.
Ivanisevic finished runner-up in the French Open men's doubles in 1999 (with
Jeff Tarango). However for much of 1999, 2000 and 2001, he struggled with a
shoulder injury and his performance and world ranking began to steadily slide.
He was widely acclaimed as the best player never to win a Grand Slam.
But then came the summer of 2001. Ivanisevic was ranked the World No. 125. This
was not good enough to earn him an automatic place in the main draw at Wimbledon
but, given his past record as a three-time finalist, the organizers decided to
give him a wildcard entry. Against all expectations, he powered his way through
the draw to reach the final, setting-up a showdown with the previous year's
runner-up and former US Open champion Patrick Rafter. (It was the first singles
final which Ivanisevic had qualified for since 1998.) In an epic struggle
lasting three hours and one minute, Ivanisevic out-lasted Rafter to win in five
sets 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 2-6, 9-7. Just two months shy of his 30th birthday,
Ivanisevic became the lowest-ranked player and the first wildcard entry to win
Wimbledon. His Wimbledon success was rated sixteenth at the list of 100
Greatest Sporting Moments.
Ivanisevic received the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Overseas Personality
Award in 2001.
Goran Ivanisevic and Mario Ančić playing doubles during the 2004 Queen's Club
Championships.
The 2001 Wimbledon win proved to be the last of Ivanisevic's career. He
temporarily retired later in 2001 due to shoulder surgery, but remained listed
at the bottom of the ATP's rankings. He returned to tennis in 2004, but retired
permanently after a third-round loss to Lleyton Hewitt at Wimbledon. After the
match, he again prominently displayed his Croatian heritage, this time by
putting on a Croatia national football team jersey and declaring now he had lost
he could watch Croatia beat England in the Euro2004. The Wimbledon crowd booed
this. Croatia went on to lose 3-2.
Over the course of his career Ivanisevic won 22 top-level singles titles and 9
doubles titles.
In 2005 Ivanisevic was a member of the Croatian team for the Davis Cup final
against Slovakia in Bratislava, though he did not play in any of the match-ups.
Croatia won the final 3-2.
In June 2006 he performed in the Calderstones Park tournament in Liverpool.
In November 2006 Ivanisevic made history again by winning the Frankfurt title,
part of the Merrill Lynch Tour of Champions, defeating a fit John McEnroe in 2
tight sets 7-6(12), 7-6(1). After the match, Ivanisevic said “It’s always great
to play John. He was my idol, and it is special to beat him.”
Name: Goran Ivanisevic
Born: 13 September 1971 Split, Croatia.
Goran Šimun Ivanisevic (born in Split, September 13, 1971)
is a former professional tennis player from Croatia. He is best remembered for
being the only person to win the men's singles title at Wimbledon as a wildcard.
He achieved this in 2001, having previously been runner-up at the championships
in 1992, 1994 and 1998. Ivanisevic is famous for his strong serve, which is one
of the greatest to date. His career-high singles ranking was World No. 2 (behind
Pete Sampras) in 1994.
Ivanisevic was born in Split, Croatia, in the former Yugoslavia. He turned
professional in 1988, and won his first career doubles title later that year in
Frankfurt (with Rüdiger Haas).
Ivanisevic made his first significant impact on the tennis world in 1990. In the
French Open, he knocked-out Boris Becker in the first round of the men's singles
and went on to reach the quarter-finals. Becker reportedly remarked about
Ivanisevic that "even God could not have played any better". He was also runner-up
in the French Open men's doubles (with Petr Korda). A few weeks later at
Wimbledon, Ivanisevic made it all the way to the semi-finals, where he again met
Becker and put up an impressive display before going down in four sets. Becker
predicted after the match Ivanisevic would be a future Wimbledon champion.
Ivanisevic also won his tour first singles title in 1990 at Stuttgart, and
helped Yugoslavia win the World Team Cup.
Ivanisevic quickly became known on the tour for his strong, attacking style of
play and for an extremely powerful serve. For several years, he was the leading
scorer of aces on the tour. A brilliant player, who was capable of beating
anyone in the world when he was at his very best, he was also known for
occasional on-court temper tantrums and, from time-to-time, for "tanking" in
matches (particularly in final sets) and being blown away by opponents he was
capable of beating.
Ivanisevic lost in the second round at Wimbledon in 1991.
In 1992 Ivanisevic reached the Wimbledon singles final, where he faced Andre
Agassi. Both up-and-coming stars were gunning for their first Grand Slam title.
In a dramatic five-set encounter, it was Agassi who eventually won 6-7, 6-4, 6-4,
1-6, 6-4. Later that summer, at the Olympic Games in Barcelona, Ivanisevic won
Bronze Medals in both singles and doubles for the newly-independent nation of
Croatia. He also won four singles titles that year. He also courted controversy
during the championships by not only expressing his strong Croatian patriotic
sentiments during the period of independence from Yugoslavia, but also urging
the top women's player Monica Seles (a Serbia-born ethnic Hungarian) to publicly
express her stance, which she refused to do.
Olympic medal record
Men’s Tennis
Bronze 1992 Barcelona Singles
Bronze 1992 Barcelona Doubles
Ivanisevic reached the Wimbledon final for the second time in 1994, where he was
defeated by defending-champion Pete Sampras in three sets, 7-6, 7-6, 6-0.
Ivanisevic reached his career-high singles ranking of World No. 2 in July that
year.
In 1995, Ivanisevic won the Grand Slam Cup, beating Todd Martin in the final 7-6,
6-3, 6-4. Continuing his strong performances at the Wimbledon tournament, he
would reach the semifinals that year, losing to Pete Sampras in a hard fought
five set match, 7-6 4-6 6-3 4-6 6-3.
In 1996 he won a career-best five singles titles. He reached the Grand Slam Cup
final again, but this time lost to Becker in straight sets. He set a tour record
by serving 1,477 aces over the course of the season. Ivanisevic also teamed-up
with Iva Majoli to win the 1996 Hopman Cup for Croatia. Ivanisevic would also
reach his first Grand Slam semifinal other than Wimbledon at the U.S. Open that
year, falling once again to Pete Sampras in four sets.
In 1998, Ivanisevic reached his third Wimbledon final. He faced Sampras again
and pushed him to five sets before losing a closely-fought contest 6-7, 7-6, 6-4,
3-6, 6-2. After three final defeats, many people wondered if the man often
touted as a future Wimbledon winner would ever fulfill his promise.
Ivanisevic finished runner-up in the French Open men's doubles in 1999 (with
Jeff Tarango). However for much of 1999, 2000 and 2001, he struggled with a
shoulder injury and his performance and world ranking began to steadily slide.
He was widely acclaimed as the best player never to win a Grand Slam.
But then came the summer of 2001. Ivanisevic was ranked the World No. 125. This
was not good enough to earn him an automatic place in the main draw at Wimbledon
but, given his past record as a three-time finalist, the organizers decided to
give him a wildcard entry. Against all expectations, he powered his way through
the draw to reach the final, setting-up a showdown with the previous year's
runner-up and former US Open champion Patrick Rafter. (It was the first singles
final which Ivanisevic had qualified for since 1998.) In an epic struggle
lasting three hours and one minute, Ivanisevic out-lasted Rafter to win in five
sets 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 2-6, 9-7. Just two months shy of his 30th birthday,
Ivanisevic became the lowest-ranked player and the first wildcard entry to win
Wimbledon. His Wimbledon success was rated sixteenth at the list of 100
Greatest Sporting Moments.
Ivanisevic received the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Overseas Personality
Award in 2001.
Goran Ivanisevic and Mario Ančić playing doubles during the 2004 Queen's Club
Championships.
The 2001 Wimbledon win proved to be the last of Ivanisevic's career. He
temporarily retired later in 2001 due to shoulder surgery, but remained listed
at the bottom of the ATP's rankings. He returned to tennis in 2004, but retired
permanently after a third-round loss to Lleyton Hewitt at Wimbledon. After the
match, he again prominently displayed his Croatian heritage, this time by
putting on a Croatia national football team jersey and declaring now he had lost
he could watch Croatia beat England in the Euro2004. The Wimbledon crowd booed
this. Croatia went on to lose 3-2.
Over the course of his career Ivanisevic won 22 top-level singles titles and 9
doubles titles.
In 2005 Ivanisevic was a member of the Croatian team for the Davis Cup final
against Slovakia in Bratislava, though he did not play in any of the match-ups.
Croatia won the final 3-2.
In June 2006 he performed in the Calderstones Park tournament in Liverpool.
In November 2006 Ivanisevic made history again by winning the Frankfurt title,
part of the Merrill Lynch Tour of Champions, defeating a fit John McEnroe in 2
tight sets 7-6(12), 7-6(1). After the match, Ivanisevic said “It’s always great
to play John. He was my idol, and it is special to beat him.”