ONE WILL WIN HIS FIRST

Can the One-Shot Wonder take down Rafter?

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

Susan Mullane Camerawork USA, Inc.

Maybe but it's because he feels blessed or maybe it‚s because it‚s always difficult on a young buck when his hero falls back down to earth, Goran Ivanisevic is none to happy with John McEnroe, who called him a one-shot wonder on the BBC.

"John McEnroe was my idol all my life. He was a lefty and he was the player I always like to watch," said Ivanisevic after reaching his fourth Wimbledon final on Sunday by mentally breaking down England in the genteel form of Tim Henman.

"But I don't think much of him as a person. He said I have only one shot and to be in the final of Wimbledon, win 21 tournaments, some of them on clay, you have to be a genius to win it all with just one shot. The way he's commentating, giving everybody shit by saying things like 'This guy is going to choke. … This guy is not good' … I mean nobody is good for him. What to
say for Mr. McEnroe? He's a great player. … But who cares about him? He's
going to say bullshit about me and about everybody else. Let it be."

Let's not.

What many people forget is that Goran grew up on Croatian clay and is
essentially a baseliner with a huge serve who slowly adapted his game to
grass. He is not a very good volleyer. In fact, it is his lack of touch
around the net that is the primary reason why he hasn't won a Wimbledon title
yet. He doesn't bend low enough on his volleys and frequently takes his eye
off the ball. He's much more comfortable taking big cracks at his groundies
or attempting to rip return of serve winners.

Yes, he can be called an all-courter – an all-courter without a real home
base. He's reached both the quarters of Roland Garros and the Australian, as
well as the semis of the U.S. Open. In the prestigious Tennis Master Series
events, he's won Stuttgart and Paris on super-quick indoor surfaces, and
reached the clay court finals of Rome and Hamburg and the hardcourt final in
Miami.

But Goran's never won a big crown off a very fast surface, which says a lot
about his game. Namely, that Johnny Mac is more or less correct. Without his
heater, he is a pretty good but not great player.

GORAN'S GAME: SERVE AND SERVE
Of course, you can lay the blame here on Goran himself for never making the
full transition from being a baseliner to serve and volleyer. He never
learned to chip and charge and off grass and the slick indoor surfaces, he is
reticent to follow his huge second serve into net. As he has said many times
in the past, he does not know what to do on medium speed surfaces – come in
or stay back. His indecisiveness kills him. The guy is 6'-4" and is a
solid athlete, so why he never deduced that becoming more of a pure serve and
volleyer would be faster route to glory than being a "Tweener" can only be
blamed on "The Bad Goran" because the "Good Goran" would never want to see
the normal Goran lose four times in the first round of the U.S. Open or three
times in the first round of the Aussie Open.

At age 29, Goran is not going to change his game. On Monday, he'll have to
hope that his serving arm is blessed by the angel who he has called upon and
that Patrick Rafter cannot find the bite in his kick serve. Rafter is a
better grass court player than Goran is right now, regardless if Goran has
reached his fourth Wimby final or not.

Powerful Pat is a far better volleyer and mover on the turf than Goran is and
while he won't serve as many aces, he is nearly impossible to break given his
athleticism around the net. He's a mentally tougher player and for the most
part, has shown over his career that he is adept at seizing the moment. From
a storyline perspective, it doesn't really matter who wins tomorrow because
both men have endeared themselves to the public and both are deserving of
title based on sheer effort alone.

But when the going gets tough deep in the match, I'll take Rafter's vintage
serve-and-volley attack at crunch time over Goran's ability to blast another
ace and take a full swing at a return of serve winner. Like Johnny Mac, I see
Goran's serve as the only part of his game that won't break down at crunch
time. Isn't that what Mac meant to say anyway?