2001 Wimbledon Champion Goran Ivanisevic provided tremendous entertainment to all the tennis fans around the world. The world dearly misses characters like him in the present tennis generation. iSporter Jigar Mehta writes a tribute article.
9th July 2001 a windy day; we were busy playing the Gentlemen’s game for fun but in the other part of the world a star was playing for a cause!
Shrugging off the disappointment of a rain delay, the 15,000 anxious and thrilled people who on a Monday evening had come to the center court had charged up the atmosphere.
The crowd did not have a home player to support but amongst them were some surprise visitors; the whole of Australian cricket team.
At least 80% of the crowd was left without their nails as the match reached the 5th set with a score of 8-7.
Up went the eyes of this 6 ft 3 champ towards the mighty lord and flash went the serve disappointingly in the net. Again the eyes turned towards the heaven. This time around pleading with as low as zero energy in the body for divine intervention. Up went the left arm and smoothly went the not so gentle serve into the opposite side, this time bang on target waiting for the opposition to make a mistake.
Back came the return but it failed to cross and net. In a moment the tension eased. Tears had started rolling down from the eyes of an exhausted body. The 15,000 spectators had already stood up on their feet in absolute enjoyment and a champion fell down on his feet in utter disbelief. The score board read 6–3, 3–6, 6–3, 2–6, 9–7.
It was a perfect match for the audience with super tennis, great moments of humor and shades of John McEnroe.
The biggest achievement in a player’s life; winning the oldest & the greatest grand slam event ‘Wimbledon’, considered to be the most prestigious one in lawn tennis.
Well this champion had the greatest day of his life and still considers it as his greatest achievement. Goran Ivanisevic had finally been crowned the champion.
Born in Split, Yugoslavia this 6 ft 3 in champion had a dream start to his career winning first career doubles title partnering Rüdiger Haas in Frankfurt.
The dream run continued as he reached the quarter finals of the French open in 1990 beating the likes of Boris Becker & was runner up in the doubles event.
He blasted his way through to his first Wimbledon finals in 1992 defeating the likes of Ivan Lendl, Stefan Edberg, and Pete Sampras in succession only to lose out to Andre Agassi in a thrilling 5 setter at the centre court at that time he was only 20 years old and a star was in the making.
He climbed up to his highest career ranking of world no.2 after he reached his 2nd Wimbledon finals in 1994 but was defeated by the defending champion Pete Sampras.
In 1995 he won the Gram Slam Cup title and was the runner up in the same tournament the following year.
The year 1996 was a scintillating year for this Croatian as he won career-best 5 singles title.
He went on to win the Hopman cup for Croatia partnering Iva Majoli & reached the semi-finals of the US open the same year.
Well he was again on the top in his favourite Grand slam ‘Wimbledon’ in 1998 reaching the finals but was outdone by ‘Sampras’ Voodoo once again the match was a classic 5 setter but was unlucky to lose 7–6, 6–7, 4–6, 6–3, 2–6.
His Finals jinx continued as he was the runner up in the French open doubles championship in 1999.
With heavy competition, a tight schedule and taking into account the hard work, every athlete has to undergo a tough test and passes through a bad phase in his career. Goran was no stranger to it; he went through the toughest phase of his career
Starting from 1999 till 2001, he struggled with a shoulder injury and his performance and world ranking began to slide continually.
He hit his career low ranking of 125 which was insufficient for him to earn him an automatic place in the main draw at Wimbledon. Being his favorite Grand slam it was to be one of the greatest setbacks for him. But his past records as a 3 time runner handed him a life line and he was given a wild card entry into the championship along with 5 others into the singles draw.
The question to be asked was; will it be this time? After such a long and frustrating journey, back to the favourite Grand slam, lucky to get a wild card entry!
Well the Gods were with him this time and the finals jinx was finally broken, 9th July was the day he finally lifted his favourite trophy; this time around it was the trophy and not the runners up dish a fact about which he was very happy!
He had beaten the likes of Moya, Roddick, Rusedski, home crowd favourite Tim Henman and last but not the least the previous year's runner-up and former US Open champion Pat Rafter on his road to the famous victory.
This was the last trophy he would win as the shoulder injury again started haunting him and later that year he took temporary retirement from tennis after his shoulder surgery.
He made his comeback after 3 years in 2004 but retired permanently after a third-round loss to Lleyton Hewitt at Wimbledon, held on the centre court, the place which will last forever in his memory.
Not only was he successful in singles & doubles as a grand slam player but he contributed greatly for his country also winning 1996 Hopman cup , winning 2 bronze medals in 1992 Olympics, Barcelona in singles as well as doubles, he was an integral part of the Croatian team that won the Davis cup in 2005.
This champion was ranked amongst the top tennis personalities, multitalented as he was; he played football for the Croatian team Hajduk Split in 2001, he also participated in an exhibition match of the Croatian national team of 1998 versus the International football stars in 2002 and also scored a goal in the match.
A gutsy athlete with a never say die attitude , a perfect example being 1992 Australian Men's Harcourt Championships a tournament where he was at receiving end of death threats but he still continued to play & then went on to win the championship.
But he is most well-known for his biggest armoury in his Arsenal and that is his ‘Service’.
His serves were lightning fast by the time the ball was in the air and the racquet in the left hand hit the ball the opponent was ready for another serve from this ‘Master of Aces’; as it is very difficult for a normal human being to spot the ball with a naked eye with speed compared to a bullet being fired from the gun.
Well the toughest job on a tennis court when Goran is playing is that of the Ball Boys and you can guess why?
He was the master of aces; he hit a mind boggling 1,477 aces during the season of 1996 which is still engraved in the record books as most for a season till date.
He also holds the record for most aces in a tournament blitzing 213 aces on his road to winning Wimbledon in 2001 beating his own record of 206 aces in 1992.
His other strengths were his forehand shots as well as his drop volleys running up the net and the crazy but artistic in between the legs shots entertaining the crowds.
He was a super as well as humorous character on court and was at times compared to John McEnroe for the passion he displayed on the court.
He was well-known for his shirt removing celebrations as well as his racquet banging & crushing antics.
A great person off the court and on 9th July 2001 he was playing for a cause and the cause was to win it for friend of his, Drazen Petrovic, a basketball player in the Jersey Nets, who died in a car crash in 1993.
Well the 124th edition of the ‘Wimbledon’ is just round the corner and we will dearly miss a great character like ‘Goran Ivanisevic’ this time too..
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a guest
said:
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... GREAT TENNIS PAYER. HE WAS PREPARED TO DIE FOR CROATIA AS HE PRODOULY COMPLETED MILITARY SERVIC FOR THE BEST ARMY IN THE WORLD. BOG I HRVATI |
Parul
said:
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... After Becker he was the one guy i liked most. Aces were his strengths. Great Character yeah! |
a guest
said:
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... mast hai yaar.... made for a gud read.... articulately written.... brought back memories when he lifted the cup...... (sampit) |
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