Goran Ivanišević

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Goran Ivanišević

Country	Croatia
Residence	Monte Carlo, Monaco
Date of birth	13 September 1971
Place of birth	Split, Croatia (formerly Yugoslavia)
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Weight	81 kg (178 lb)
Turned Pro	1988
Retired	2004
Plays	Left; Two-handed backhand
Career Prize Money	$19,876,579
Singles
Career record:	599 - 333
Career titles:	22
Highest ranking:	2 (4 July 1994)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open	QF (1989, 1994, 1997)
French Open	QF (1992, 1994)
Wimbledon	W (2001)RU (1992, 1994, 1998)
U.S. Open	SF (1996)
Doubles
Career record:	263 - 225
Career titles:	9
Highest ranking:	20 (6 January 1992)

Goran Šimun Ivanišević [ˈɡɔran ˈiʋaniːʃɛʋitɕ] (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 in 2001 (having previously been runner-up at the championships in 1992, 1994 and 1998). Ivanišević's name is synonymous with 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.

Contents 1 Career 2 Football 3 Quotes 4 Trivia 5 Grand Slam singles finals 5.1 Wins (1) 5.2 Runner-ups (3) 6 Masters Series singles finals 6.1 Wins (2) 6.2 Runner-ups (5) 7 Singles titles (22) 8 Team titles (3) 9 Performance timeline 10 See also 11 References 12 External links

[edit] Career

Ivanišević was born in Croatia. He turned professional in 1988, and won his first career doubles title later that year in Frankfurt (with Rüdiger Haas).

Ivanišević 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 Ivanišević 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, Ivanišević 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 Ivanišević would be a future Wimbledon champion. Ivanišević also won his tour first singles title in 1990 at Stuttgart, and helped Yugoslavia win the World Team Cup.

Ivanišević 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.

Ivanišević lost in the second round at Wimbledon in 1991 and 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.

In 1992 Ivanišević 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, Ivanišević won Bronze Medals in both singles and doubles for the newly-independent nation of Croatia. He also won four singles titles that year.

Olympic medal record
Men’s Tennis
Bronze	1992 Barcelona	Singles
Bronze	1992 Barcelona	Doubles

Ivanišević 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. Ivanišević reached his career-high singles ranking of World No. 2 in July that year.

In 1995, Ivanišević 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. Ivanišević also teamed-up with Iva Majoli to win the 1996 Hopman Cup for Croatia. Ivanišević 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, Ivanišević 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.

Ivanišević 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.

In the summer of 2001, Ivanišević 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 the previous year's runner-up and former US Open champion Patrick Rafter. (It was the first singles final which Ivanišević had qualified for since 1998.) In an epic struggle lasting three hours and one minute, Ivanišević 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, Ivanišević became the lowest-ranked player and the first wildcard entry to win Wimbledon.^[1] His Wimbledon success was rated sixteenth at the list of 100 Greatest Sporting Moments.

Ivanišević received the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Overseas Personality Award in 2001.

The 2001 Wimbledon win proved to be the last of Ivanišević'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 saying he didn't mind losing as now he could watch Croatia beat England in Euro 2004 (regrettably for him Croatia lost).

Over the course of his career Ivanišević won 22 top-level singles titles and 9 doubles titles.

In 2005 Ivanišević 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 Ivanišević 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, Ivanišević said “It’s always great to play John. He was my idol, and it is special to beat him.”

[edit] Football

Ivanišević has also played football for the Croatian team Hajduk Split in 2001. Goran supports English team West Bromwich Albion. He became a fan after the Midland club's Great Escape from Premiership relegation in 2005 when they became the first club to be bottom of the league at Christmas and avoid relegation. ^[2]

[edit] Quotes

• "The trouble with me is that every match I play against five opponents: umpire, crowd, ball boys, court, and myself."
• "I wouldn't want to go to a sports psychiatrist, because when you're finished, you come out more crazy than you go in."
• "I still break racquets, but now I do it in a positive way."
• "My fines? I pay more fines than some guys' career prize money on the tour."
• "I think it's interesting, you have three movies in one match: horror, comedy, drama. It's fun. I enjoy it. I am like that. I don't like to change. And if I could choose, I would be the same again. Just me, and I like who I am."
• "In every game I play there are three players in me that could surface anytime, Good Goran, Bad Goran, Crazy Goran!"

[edit] Trivia

• In the 1993 US Open, Ivanišević won a third set tie-break against Daniel Nestor 20-18. This tied the record for the longest tie-break (in terms of points) ever played since the tie-break system was introduced in 1970. Ivanišević won another third set 20-18 tie-break in the 1997 Queen's Club semi-final against Greg Rusedski. Besides Ivanišević, only Björn Borg (1st round Wimbledon 1973 against Premjit Lal), Roger Federer (semi-final, Tennis Masters Cup 2004, against Marat Safin) and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (first round Australian open against Andy Roddick) won such drawn out tie-breaks.

• Due to his on-court temper outbursts, Ivanišević has often been likened to John McEnroe; in fact, Ivanišević himself said McEnroe was his idol. By coincidence, McEnroe played his last ATP Tour singles match against Ivanišević, at the 1992 Grand Slam Cup.

• He is quoted as a look-alike of Jesus Christ.

• In the anime The Prince of Tennis, a player who mimics a pro's styles changes into him during a match.

• A few months after winning Wimbledon, Goran was given the opportunity to play in a football match for his boyhood team Hajduk Split.

• In 2004, Goran participated in a reality TV show called The Exchange Office, where he swapped jobs with road sweeper Alojz Pucek and swept streets in Zagreb. Reportedly, eyewitnesses who recognized Goran were utterly shocked, and one even passed out. ^[3]

• As a great football fan, Goran also participated in a friendly match of the Croatian national team of 1998 versus the International football stars on October 7, 2002. in Zagreb. It was the last career match of Croatian midfielder and team captain Zvonimir Boban. Ivanišević scored the goal for 1:1 (the game ended 2:1 for the International stars). He also supports West Bromwich Albion.

[edit] Grand Slam singles finals

[edit] Wins (1)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
2001	Wimbledon	Patrick Rafter	6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 2-6, 9-7

[edit] Runner-ups (3)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1992	Wimbledon	Andre Agassi	6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4
1994	Wimbledon	Pete Sampras	7-6, 7-6, 6-0
1998	Wimbledon	Pete Sampras	6-7, 7-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2

[edit] Masters Series singles finals

[edit] Wins (2)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1992	Stockholm	Guy Forget	7-6(2), 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-2
1993	Paris	Andrei Medvedev	6-4, 6-2, 7-6(2)

[edit] Runner-ups (5)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1993	Rome	Jim Courier	6-1, 6-2, 6-2
1993	Stockholm	Michael Stich	4-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-2
1994	Stockholm	Boris Becker	4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6
1995	Hamburg	Andrei Medvedev	6-3, 6-2, 6-1
1996	Miami	Andre Agassi	3-0 retired

[edit] Singles titles (22)

• 1990 – Stuttgart Outdoor
• 1991 – Manchester
• 1992 – Adelaide, Stuttgart Indoor, Sydney Indoor, Stockholm
• 1993 – Bucharest, Vienna, Paris
• 1994 – Kitzbuhel, Tokyo Indoor
• 1995 – Grand Slam Cup
• 1996 – Zagreb, Dubai, Milan, Rotterdam, Moscow
• 1997 – Zagreb, Milan, Vienna
• 1998 – Split
• 2001 – Wimbledon

[edit] Team titles (3)

• 1990 – World Team Cup winner with Yugoslavia
• 1996 – Hopman Cup winner with Croatia
• 2005 – Davis Cup winner with Croatia

[edit] Performance timeline

Tournament	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	Career SR	Career Win-Loss
Australian Open	A	A	2R	3R	1R	3R	4R	4R	4R	A	3R	3R	1R	A	A	A	A	0 / 10	18-10
French Open	A	4R	QF	2R	QF	3R	QF	1R	4R	1R	1R	1R	1R	A	A	A	A	0 / 12	21-12
Wimbledon	1R	2R	SF	2R	F	3R	F	SF	QF	2R	F	4R	1R	W	A	A	3R	1 / 15	49-14
U.S. Open	A	2R	3R	4R	3R	2R	1R	1R	SF	1R	4R	3R	1R	3R	A	A	A	0 / 13	21-13
Grand Slam Win-Loss	0-1	5-3	12-4	7-4	12-4	7-4	13-4	8-4	15-4	1-3	11-4	7-4	0-4	9-2	0-0	0-0	2-1	N/A	109-41
Tennis Masters Cup	A	A	A	A	SF	SF	RR	A	SF	A	A	A	A	RR	A	A	A	0 / 5	8-7
ATP Tournaments Won	0	0	1	1	4	3	2	1	5	3	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	N/A	22
Year End Ranking	371	40	9	16	4	7	5	10	4	15	12	62	129	12	243	657	266	N/A	N/A

• A = did not participate in the tournament
• SR = the ratio of the number of singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played

[edit] See also

• List of Grand Slam Men's Singles champions

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• The official Goran Ivanišević website
• ATP Tour profile for Goran Ivanišević
• Goran Ivanišević at the Internet Movie Database