Goran Ivanisevic: Tennis’s Mercurial Champion
Born on 13th September, 1971, to a well educated family residing in the seaside town of Split- formerly a part of Yugoslavia and present day Croatia- Goran Ivanisevic’s athletic talents became evident at a fairly young age.
The young Ivanisevic first tried his hand at tennis at the age of seven and it was soon clear the young boy was no ordinary player. Most pundits believe it was the fated 1990 that marks the epoch of Ivanisevic’s career, a year that saw him make it to five singles finals, the Wimbledon semifinal and three men’s doubles finals.
Spurred by the off-court turbulence affected by his older sister Srjdana’s battle with cancer that coincided with the early stages of his career, the young Yugoslav found the spirit for fierce on-court performances that would generate the money desperately needed for his sister’s treatment. On this Ivanisevic had remarked: “When I start my career, my sister was very sick. I play for her because we didn’t have money. So better I do, she can go to doctors and heal herself. Now everything is fine and she is great.”
Quite remarkably, what had seemed like a career that guaranteed countless Grand Slam titles, Ivanisevic won the one and only such tournament of his life at Wimbledon 2001, when, ranked number 125 in the world, the central European champion had already been written off by pundits as a mere exhibition item.
Ivanisevic had entered the tournament with a wild-card that had spared him the humiliation of a qualifying round exit, as BBC tennis commentator John Lloyd put it pithily: “It was lucky that he was offered a wild-card, because I don’t think he would have made through the qualifying rounds.” The win at the All England Club championship would enable the mercurial star to finally bury the ghosts of the past 13 years of his life and strip himself of the unwanted title of “the best tennis player in the world who has never won a Grand Slam title.”
Goran’s quest for the Wimbledon men’s singles title commenced in 1989 when he was to bid farewell after being knocked out in the first round. He fared much better at the 1990 event where he was seen off by Boris Becker in the semi-finals. The struggle continued in 1992, when Ivanisevic made it to finals after dumping Pete “Pistol” Sampras in the semi finals only to be demolished by the “phoenix-from-the-flames” Andre Agassi.
The 1996 and 1998 Wimbledon tournaments came when the Balkans Conflict was at its peak, inciting Ivanisevic to give his utmost on the court as an ambassador of his war torn nation. He had remarked: “…the war came. Then I have motivation to play for my country, for the people who are fighting for my country.” Yet on both occasions, Ivanisevic had put on a series of dazzling displays that helped him to make to the finals, only to surrender the title to a fired up Pete Sampras.
The 1998 third Wimbledon finals defeat would prove atrocious for the mercurial stars motivation and will to struggle on; it would also mark the beginning of the end of an illustrious career.
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