FOURTH TIME'S A CHARM

Goran Ivanisevic: A Wimbledon champion, forever!

By Sandra Harwitt
tennisreporters.net

Susan Mullane Camerawork USA, Inc.

Never again will anyone ever be able to accuse Goran Ivanisevic of being the greatest player of all time never to win a Grand Slam title. The 29-year-old Croatian erased that unpleasant tagline from his resume on Monday when he created what could be considered the most improbable, not to mention magical moment in Wimbledon history by upsetting Pat Rafter 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 2-6, 9-7 in the men’s final.

The No. 125 ranked Ivanisevic’s story is truly a fairytale come true with a happily ever after as its conclusion – for today he became the first wildcard in Wimbledon history to add Wimbledon champion to his credit.

“This was my dream all my life,” said Ivanisevic, who was seen crying face down on the ground after Rafter netted a backhand return on the Croatian’s fourth match point in the last game. “When I came here, nobody even talked about me. Now I’m holding this trophy.”

Three times a finalist at Wimbledon in 1992, ’94 and ’98, his huge serve was supposedly destined to deliver the prized silver chalice. But it only delivered disappointment ñ in five sets to Andre Agassi in ’92, three sets to Pete Sampras in ’94, and then an even harder loss to live with, a five-set defeat to Sampras in ’98.

Since that time, Ivanisevic has been on a downslide, primarily courtesy of an abused shoulder from all that mega-serving, a shoulder that is in need of surgery. No one ever thought that Ivanisevic would be a factor in the game again ñ after all, the last of his previous 21 tournament titles came in 1998 in his hometown of Split.

Even his opponent admitted that he had stopped paying any attention to Ivanisevic a long time ago.

“I’m a culprit of having written Goran off a couple of years ago,” said Rafter, suffering his second consecutive Wimbledon final loss, going out last year to Sampras in four sets. “He’s a great tennis player and a well deserved winner. Someone has to lose and I’m the loser again.”

If walking away from this Wimbledon again without the title has done anything for Rafter, a two-time U.S. Open champion, it might have proven to him it is not his time to hang up his sneakers. The Australian has been talking possible retirement since all season long, but after the final Rafter would only go so far as to say “I’ll be taking time off at the end of the year.”

One special relief for Ivanisevic was that he did not subject his father to having to watch another heart-wrenching Wimbledon final defeat from the stands, admitting, “If I lose today, his heart would explode. Thanks Dad.” Indeed, after hugging Rafter at the net, the teary-eyed Ivanisevic ventured through the crowd to hug his father and a few other friends.

In a bit of irony, the All England Club ended up hurting the British hopes of having a Wimbledon champion this year by offering Ivanisevic a well-deserved wildcard. For it was Ivanisevic who sent both Greg Rusedski and Tim Henman packing en-route to victory. Astonishingly, his five-set semifinal upset over Henman spanned three days as rain finally took its toll on The Championships this fortnight.
Bearing this fact in mind, Ivanisevic offered a special message at the outset of his celebration speech, saying, “Thank you to the All England Club for giving me a wildcard.”

A GREAT FINAL
There is one truth that will always exist about this men’s Wimbledon final – it will be remembered as one of the best. Not only was the match a superb performance of quality tennis on both sides of the net, but there was also an exuberant crowd unlike any Wimbledon has ever seen at a final. Being that it was an unscheduled Monday men’s final, tickets were sold to “People’s Monday” the morning of the great affair on a first come-first serve basis.

“It was an amazing, amazing atmosphere and it was a lot of fun,” said Rafter, as usual a true good sport in defeat. “I don’t know if Wimbledon has seen anything like it or will again. It was electric. This is what we play for, this is what it’s all about – it was so much fun.”

Even former champion John McEnroe, commentating for NBC weighed in on the quality of the match, saying, “It was the greatest final – I didn’t think the year 2001 would be a magnificent match.”

What was truly amazing about the match is that Ivanisevic was able to hold his nerves and keep himself focused – problems he experienced in his previous attempts at winning Wimbledon. But even Ivanisevic, who believed that winning this Wimbledon was his destiny as he kept coming through matches, was worried when the match went into a decisive fifth set.

“When we were going five sets, I thought not again, please god, what did I do to you?” said Ivanisevic, who led Rafter by two-sets-to-one earlier in the match.
But this time was different because when Ivanisevic got into trouble, he was able to climb out of it.

THE OUTBURST DOESN’T BURST GORAN
One crucial point when it looked as if the Croatian might crumble was when he lost his serve in the sixth game of the fourth set, giving Rafter the necessary lead to even the score at two sets all. It was a second break point at ad-out and Ivanisevic was called for a foot fault on his first serve. Then his second serve skidded very close to the line but was called just wide for the double fault and game Rafter. Ivanisevic had a momentary outburst, dropping his racket, kicking the net and arguing with the umpire. In the past, a moment like this could have buried Ivanisevic, but he pulled himself together and refused to fall apart.

In the final set, Ivanisevic had two earlier chances to break Rafter’s serve – going ahead 0-30 in the ninth game and 15-30 in the 11th game, but the Australian kept his composure and held his serve. Then it was Ivanisevic’s turn to appear vulnerable, falling behind 0-30 with Rafter leading 7-6, but he also held his own. In the very next game, the opening for victory came for Ivanisevic at 15-30 when he scored on two forehand service return winners to earn the service break and an 8-7 lead.

When it was all said and done, Ivanisevic finally ended years of frustration and made his life whole forever by fulfilling a lifelong quest.

“This is so great, to touch the trophy,” he said. “I don’t even care if I win another match in my life. This is it, this is the end of the road. People respect me but second isn’t good enough. Now I am champion, this is everything for me. Whatever I do in my life, wherever I go I will be Wimbledon champion.”