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Goran Ivanišević

Country (sports)	Croatia
Residence	Monte Carlo, Monaco
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Turned pro	1988
Retired	2004
Plays	Left-handed; two-handed backhand
Prize money	$19,876,579
Singles
Career record	599–333
Career titles	22
Highest ranking	2 (4 July 1994)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	QF (1989, 1994, 1997)
French Open	QF (1990, 1992, 1994)
Wimbledon	W (2001)
US Open	SF (1996)
Doubles
Career record	263–225
Career titles	9
Highest ranking	20 (6 January 1992)

Goran Šimun Ivanišević ( IPA: [ɡǒran iʋanǐːʃɛʋiʨ]; born in Split, Croatia, Yugoslavia on 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. Ivanišević 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.

Career

Ivanišević was born in Split, Croatia, then in the former Yugoslavia. He turned professional in 1988 and later that year, with Rüdiger Haas, won his first career doubles title in Frankfurt.

Ivanišević made his first significant impact on the tour in 1990, knocking Boris Becker out of the first round of the French Open men's singles; he went on to reach the quarterfinals. Becker reportedly remarked about Ivanišević that "even God could not have played any better". He was also, with Petr Korda, the runner-up in the French Open men's doubles. At that year's Wimbledon, Ivanišević reached the semifinals, where he lost to Becker in four sets. 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 had more aces than anyone else on the tour. Capable of beating anyone in the world when at his very best, he was also known for occasional on-court temper tantrums—usually directed towards himself—and the volatility of the standard of his play.

Ivanišević lost in the second round at Wimbledon in 1991.

In 1992, Ivanišević reached the Wimbledon singles final, where he faced Andre Agassi. Both players were attempting to win their first Grand Slam title. Agassi eventually won 6–7, 6–4, 6–4, 1–6, 6–4. In the 5th set, Goran had a break point on Agassi's serve at 3 all and did not manage to convert it. In the final game of the match, he served 2 double faults to start the game, even though he had 5 for the entire match before that. His ace count for the tournament (200+) at the time was the highest in the history of ATP. He served 39 aces that day, while Agassi had 37 for the entire tournament. It was a tough loss, but as he was only 20 years old, a bright future was predicted. Later that summer at the Olympic Games in Barcelona, Ivanišević won bronze medals in both singles and doubles representing the newly-independent nation of Croatia. He also won four singles titles that year.

Olympic medal record
Representing  Croatia
Tennis
	1992 Barcelona	Singles
	1992 Barcelona	Men's Doubles

Ivanišević reached the Wimbledon final for the second time in 1994, where he was defeated by defending-champion Pete Sampras 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. At Wimbledon, Ivanišević lost in the semifinals to Sampras 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 with Iva Majoli to win the 1996 Hopman Cup for Croatia. That year Ivanišević also reached the semifinals of the U.S. Open, his first Grand Slam semifinal away from Wimbledon; he fell again to Sampras, in four sets.

In 1998, Ivanišević reached his third Wimbledon final. He faced Sampras once again. This time he pushed Sampras to five sets, before losing 6–7, 7–6, 6–4, 3–6, 6–2.

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 slide steadily.

By the summer of 2001, Ivanišević was ranked the World No. 125. This was not sufficient to earn him an automatic place in the main draw at Wimbledon but, given his past record as a three-time runner-up, he was awarded a wildcard for entry into the singles draw. He reached the final, beating home favorite Tim Henman in a five set, rain-affected semifinal, setting-up a match with the previous year's runner-up and former US Open champion Patrick Rafter. It was Ivanišević's first singles final since 1998. In a match lasting just over three hours, Ivanišević defeated Rafter 6–3, 3–6, 6–3, 2–6, 9–7. Two months shy of his 30th birthday, Ivanišević 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 by a British television programme.

Later that year he received the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Overseas Personality Award.

The 2001 Wimbledon title was the last of Ivanišević's career. He temporarily retired later in 2001 due to shoulder surgery. He returned to tennis in 2004 but retired permanently after a third-round loss to Lleyton Hewitt at Wimbledon, held on the Centre Court, the scene of his greatest triumph.

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, although he did not play. Croatia won the final 3–2.

In June 2006, he performed in the Calderstones Park tournament in Liverpool.

In November 2006, Ivanišević won the Merrill Lynch Tour of Champions tournament in Frankfurt, defeating John McEnroe 7–6(12), 7–6(1).

In 2007 Roger Federer, seeking his 5th Wimbledon in a row and due to face Nadal in the final, practised with Goran Ivanišević. He said it helped him against Nadal:

Well, I mean, it's good to have hit at least half an hour with a lefty before the finals because I've played against six right handers. So, of course, it's hard to come into a match and you play a lefty. Especially on the returns, I always feel it. The entire points are played in a different manner. Where usually you go backhand cross‑court, with Rafa I have to go backhand long line. I asked Goran yesterday if he wanted to hit with me. He said, Sure, I'm around. I was very happy he did that.

Football

Ivanišević 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 since the creation of the modern Premier League in 1992 to be bottom of the league at Christmas and avoid relegation. He wore an Albion shirt whilst warming up prior to the 2006 BlackRock Masters final.

Goran also participated in an exhibition match of the Croatian national team of 1998 versus the International football stars on 7 October 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).

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 rackets, 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! They can all serve aces."
• "I have so many runner-up cups that I am thinking of starting my own tea shop."
• "I do not want that 'plate' again." - coming into his fourth Wimbledon final having lost the three others.
• "Today's players, they do not know how. If you are going to throw it, you break it. You have to show commitment." (on throwing rackets)
• "I go kill myself" (after losing the Wimbledon 1998 final against Pete Sampras)
• "I woke up at 2 and went back to sleep at 3, I woke at 4 and went back to sleep at 5, when I next woke The Teletubbies were on TV, so I thought it must be time to get up" (on his night's sleep before the 2001 Final)
• "I don’t understand it. She was no. 1 in the world and she retires. She was such an unbelievable player and could have won more Grand Slams. I don't know why she did it. Maybe it's a woman thing. I don’t understand women. It’s very sad for tennis - a big loss." (Speaking about the retirement decision of Justine Henin.)
• "It's just hitting; it's only 33 aces, that's not so good," - after his 1992 Wimbledon quarterfinal win against Stefan Edberg.

Trivia

This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. Please relocate any relevant information into other sections or articles. (June 2008)

• 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 semifinal against Greg Rusedski. Besides Ivanišević, only Bjorn Borg (1st round Wimbledon 1973 against Premjit Lall), Roger Federer (semifinal, Tennis Masters Cup 2004, against Marat Safin) and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (first round Australian Open 2006 against Andy Roddick) have won such drawn out tie-breaks.

• Amongst other serving records, Ivanišević holds the record for most aces served in a year with 1477 in 1996. He also holds 3rd, 4th and 5th place on "most aces in a season" list (Ivo Karlović is 2nd).

• Because of 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.

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

• In 2004, Ivanišević 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 Ivanišević were utterly shocked, and one even passed out.

• His 9–7 fifth set victory over Patrick Rafter in the final is the longest fifth set in Wimbledon singles final history (tied with the 2008 men's singles final).

Grand Slam singles finals

Wins (1)

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

Runner-ups (3)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1992	Wimbledon	Andre Agassi	6–7(8), 6–4, 6–4, 1–6, 6–4
1994	Wimbledon	Pete Sampras	7–6(2), 7–6(5), 6–0
1998	Wimbledon	Pete Sampras	6–7(2), 7–6(9), 6–4, 3–6, 6–2

Grand Slam doubles finals (2)

Wins (0)

Runner-ups (2)

Year	Championship	Partnering	Opponents in Final	Score in Final
1990	French Open	Petr Korda	Sergio Casal Emilio Sanchez	7–5, 6–3
1999	French Open (2)	Jeff Tarango	Mahesh Bhupathi Leander Paes	6–2, 7–5

Masters Series singles finals

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)

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(6), 7–6(3), 6–2
1994	Stockholm	Boris Becker	4–6, 6–4, 6–3, 7–6(4)
1995	Hamburg	Andrei Medvedev	6–3, 6–2, 6–1
1996	Miami	Andre Agassi	3–0 retired

ATP tour titles (31)

Singles wins (22)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	16 July 1990	Stuttgart Outdoor, West Germany	Clay	Guillermo Perez-Roldan	6–7, 6–1, 6–4, 7–6
2.	17 June 1991	Manchester, United Kingdom	Grass	Pete Sampras	6–4, 6–4
3.	30 December 1991	Adelaide, Australia	Hard	Christian Bergstrom	1–6, 7–6(5), 6–4
4.	17 February 1992	Stuttgart Indoor, Germany	Carpet (i)	Stefan Edberg	6–7(5), 6–3, 6–4, 6–4
5.	5 October 1992	Sydney Indoor, Australia	Hard (i)	Stefan Edberg	6–4, 6–2, 6–4
6.	26 October 1992	Stockholm, Sweden	Carpet (i)	Guy Forget	7–6(2), 4–6, 7–6(5), 6–2
7.	September 13, 1993	Bucharest, Romania	Clay	Andrei Cherkasov	6–2, 7–6(5)
8.	18 October 1993	Vienna, Austria	Carpet (i)	Thomas Muster	4–6, 6–4, 6–4, 7–6(3)
9.	1 November 1993	Paris Indoor, France	Carpet (i)	Andrei Medvedev	6–4, 6–2, 7–6(2)
10.	10 October 1994	Kitzbühel, Austria	Carpet (i)	Fabrice Santoro	6–2, 4–6, 4–6, 6–3, 6–2
11.	1 August 1994	Tokyo Indoor, Japan	Carpet (i)	Michael Chang	6–4, 6–4
12.	5 December 1995	Grand Slam Cup, Munich	Carpet (i)	Todd Martin	7–6, 6–3, 6–4
13.	29 January 1996	Zagreb, Croatia	Carpet (i)	Cedric Pioline	3–6, 6–3, 6–2
14.	12 February 1996	Dubai, UAE	Hard	Albert Costa	6–4, 6–3
15.	26 February 1996	Milan, Italy	Carpet (i)	Marc Rosset	6–3, 7–6(3)
16.	4 March 1996	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Carpet (i)	Yevgeny Kafelnikov	6–4, 3–6, 6–3
17.	4 November 1996	Moscow, Russia	Carpet (i)	Yevgeny Kafelnikov	3–6, 6–1, 6–3
18.	27 January 1997	Zagreb, Croatia	Carpet (i)	Greg Rusedski	7–6(4), 4–6, 7–6(6)
19.	24 February 1997	Milan, Italy	Carpet (i)	Sergi Bruguera	6–2, 6–2
20.	6 October 1997	Vienna, Austria	Carpet (i)	Greg Rusedski	3–6, 6–7(4), 7–6(4), 6–2, 6–3
21.	2 February 1998	Split, Croatia	Carpet (i)	Greg Rusedski	7–6(3), 7–6(5)
22.	25 June 2001	Wimbledon, London	Grass	Patrick Rafter	6–3, 3–6, 6–3, 2–6, 9–7

Doubles (9)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partnering	Opponents in the final	Score
1.	17 October 1988	Frankfurt, West Germany	Carpet (i)	Rudiger Haas	Jeremy Bates Tom Nijssen	1–6, 7–5, 6–3
2.	4 February 1991	Milan, Italy	Carpet (i)	Omar Camporese	Cyril Suk Tom Nijssen	6–4, 7–6
3.	13 May 1991	Rome, Italy	Clay	Omar Camporese	Laurie Warder Luke Jensen	6–2, 6–3
4.	17 June 1991	Manchester, United Kingdom	Grass	Omar Camporese	Andrew Castle Nick Brown	6–4, 6–3
5.	30 December 1991	Adelaide, Australia	Hard	Marc Rosset	Mark Kratzmann Jason Stoltenberg	7–6, 7–6
6.	September 11, 1995	Bordeaux, France	Hard	Saša Hirszon	Henrik Holm Danny Sapsford	6–3, 6–4
7.	26 February 1996	Milan, Italy	Carpet (i)	Andrea Gaudenzi	Jakob Hlasek Guy Forget	6–4, 7–5
8.	27 January 1997	Zagreb, Croatia	Carpet (i)	Saša Hirszon	Brent Haygarth Mark Keil	6–4, 6–3
9.	10 February 1997	Dubai, UAE	Hard	Sander Groen	Sandon Stolle Cyril Suk	7–6, 6–3

ATP Tour runner-ups (37)

Singles runners-up (27)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	29 May 1989	Florence, Italy	Clay	Horacio de la Pena	6–4, 6–3
2.	21 May 1990	Umag, Croatia	Clay	Goran Prpić	6–3, 4–6, 6–4
3.	27 August 1990	Long Island, U.S.	Hard	Stefan Edberg	7–6, 6–3
4.	September 17, 1990	Bordeaux, France	Clay	Guy Forget	6–4, 6–3
5.	1 October 1990	Basel, Switzerland	Carpet (i)	John McEnroe	6–7, 4–6, 7–6, 6–3, 6–4
6.	19 August 1991	New Haven, U.S.	Hard	Petr Korda	6–4, 6–2
7.	10 February 1992	Milan, Italy	Carpet (i)	Omar Camporese	3–6, 6–3, 6–4
8.	6 July 1992	Wimbledon, London	Grass	Andre Agassi	6–7(8), 6–4, 6–4, 1–6, 6–4
9.	11 January 1993	Doha, Qatar	Hard	Boris Becker	7–6(4), 4–6, 7–5
10.	17 May 1993	Rome, Italy	Clay	Jim Courier	6–1, 6–2, 6–2
11.	1 November 1993	Stockholm, Sweden	Carpet (i)	Michael Stich	4–6, 7–6(6), 7–6(3), 6–2
12.	21 February 1994	Stuttgart Indoor, Germany	Carpet (i)	Stefan Edberg	4–6, 6–4, 6–2, 6–2
13.	4 July 1994	Wimbledon, London	Grass	Pete Sampras	7–6(2), 7–6(5), 6–0
14.	September 19, 1994	Bucharest, Romania	Clay	Franco Davin	6–2, 6–4
15.	31 October 1994	Stockholm, Sweden	Carpet (i)	Boris Becker	4–6, 6–4, 6–3, 7–6(4)
16.	15 May 1995	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Andrei Medvedev	6–3, 6–2, 6–1
17.	15 January 1996	Sydney Outdoor, Australia	Hard	Todd Martin	5–7, 6–3, 6–4
18.	26 February 1996	Antwerp, Belgium	Carpet (i)	Michael Stich	6–3, 6–2, 7–6(5)
19.	1 April 1996	Key Biscayne, U.S.	Hard	Andre Agassi	3–0, ret.
20.	19 August 1996	Indianapolis, U.S.	Hard	Pete Sampras	7–6(3), 7–5
21.	9 December 1996	Grand Slam Cup, Munich	Carpet (i)	Boris Becker	6–3, 6–4, 6–4
22.	17 February 1997	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	Hard	Thomas Muster	7–5, 7–6(3)
23.	16 June 1997	London/Queen's Club, United Kingdom	Grass	Mark Philippoussis	7–5, 6–3
24.	6 July 1998	Wimbledon, London	Grass	Pete Sampras	6–7(2), 7–6(9), 6–4, 3–6, 6–2
25.	24 August 1998	New Haven, U.S.	Hard	Karol Kučera	6–4, 5–7, 6–2
26.	12 October 1998	Shanghai, China	Carpet	Michael Chang	4–6, 6–1, 6–2
27.	16 November 1998	Moscow, Russia	Carpet	Yevgeny Kafelnikov	7–6(2), 7–6(5)

Doubles (10)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partnering	Opponents in the final	Score
1.	2 October 1989	Palermo, Italy	Clay	Diego Nargiso	Peter Ballauff Rudiger Haas	6–2, 6–7, 6–4
2.	19 February 1990	Brussels, Belgium	Carpet (i)	Balazs Taroczy	Emilio Sánchez Slobodan Zivojinovic	7–5, 6–3
3.	11 June 1990	French Open, Paris	Clay	Petr Korda	Sergio Casal Emilio Sanchez	7–5, 6–3
4.	20 August 1990	New Haven, U.S.	Hard	Petr Korda	Jeff Brown Scott Melville	7–5, 7–6
5.	22 July 1991	Stuttgart Outdoor, Germany	Clay	Omar Camporese	Wally Masur Emilio Sanchez	2–6, 6–3, 6–4
6.	15 June 1992	London/Queen's Club, United Kingdom	Grass	Diego Nargiso	John Fitzgerald Anders Jarryd	7–6, 2–6, 16–14
7.	17 April 1995	Barcelona, Spain	Clay	Andrea Gaudenzi	Trevor Kronemann David Macpherson	6–2, 6–4
8.	7 August 1995	Los Angeles, U.S.	Hard	Sasa Hirszon	Brent Haygarth Kent Kinnear	6–4, 7–5
9.	7 June 1999	French Open, Paris	Clay	Jeff Tarango	Mahesh Bhupathi Leander Paes	6–2, 7–5
10.	2 August 1999	Los Angeles, U.S.	Hard	Brian MacPhie	Byron Black Wayne Black	6–2, 7–6(4)

Team titles (3)

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

Singles performance timeline

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

See also

• List of Grand Slam Men's Singles champions

Video

• Wimbledon 2001 Final: Rafter Vs Ivanišević Standing Room Only, DVD Release Date: October 30, 2007, Run Time: 195 minutes, ASIN: B000V02CT6.

Notes and references

1. Until Croatian independence in 1992, he played for Yugoslavia
2. "Classic Matches: Ivanišević vs. Rafter". BBC Sport. 31 May 2004. Retrieved 2008-01-20.
3. "Goran's Split loyalties". BBC Sport. 14 July 2001. Retrieved 2008-01-20.
4. Goran Goes for Baggies, retrieved 27 December 2006.
5. "Baggie Goran shows his colours". Official Albion website. 2006-12-11. Retrieved 2007-08-05. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
6. TENNIS; Sampras and Ivanišević Slug Way to Semifinals
7. Goran sweeping the streets of Zagreb

External links

• Goran Ivanišević at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Goran Ivanišević at the Davis Cup
• Goran Ivanisevic at IMDb

• Articles with dead external links from January 2008
• Articles with trivia sections from June 2008
• Croatian tennis players
• Yugoslav tennis players
• Wimbledon champions
• Olympic bronze medalists for Croatia
• Tennis players at the 1992 Summer Olympics
• Tennis players at the 1996 Summer Olympics
• Tennis players at the 2000 Summer Olympics
• Laureus World Sports Awards winners
• People from Split
• 1971 births
• Living people