Goran Ivanisevic (born in Split, 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. Ivanisevic 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 Ivanisevic was born in Split, Croatia, then in the former Yugoslavia. He turned professional in 1988 and won his first career doubles title later that year in Frankfurt (with Rόdiger Haas). Ivanisevic made his first significant impact on the tennis world in 1990. In the French Open, he knocked-out Boris Becker in the first round of the men's singles and went on to reach the quarterfinals. Becker reportedly remarked about Ivanisevic that "even God could not have played any better." He was also the runner-up in the French Open men's doubles (with Petr Korda). A few weeks later at Wimbledon, Ivanisevic made it all the way to the semifinals, where he lost to Becker in four sets. Ivanisevic also won his tour first singles title in 1990 at Stuttgart and helped Yugoslavia win the World Team Cup. Ivanisevic 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. He was capable of beating anyone in the world when he was at his very best, but he was also known for occasional on-court temper tantrums, for occasionally "tanking" in matches (particularly in final sets), and for being defeated by opponents he was capable of beating. Ivanisevic lost in the second round at Wimbledon in 1991. In 1992, Ivanisevic reached the Wimbledon singles final, where he faced Andre Agassi. Both players were attempting to win their first Grand Slam title. Agassi eventually won 67, 64, 64, 16, 64. Later that summer at the Olympic Games in Barcelona, Ivanisevic won bronze medals in both singles and doubles for the newly-independent nation of Croatia. He also won four singles titles that year. Olympic medal record Ivanisevic reached the Wimbledon final for the second time in 1994, where he was defeated by defending-champion Pete Sampras 76, 76, 60. Ivanisevic reached his career-high singles ranking of World No. 2 in July that year.
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. Ivanisevic also teamed with Iva Majoli to win the 1996 Hopman Cup for Croatia. Ivanisevic also reached his first Grand Slam semifinal other than Wimbledon at the U.S. Open that year, falling once again to Sampras in four sets. In 1998, Goran Ivanisevic reached his third Wimbledon final. He faced Sampras again and pushed him to five sets before losing 67, 76, 64, 36, 62. Ivanisevic 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. After three runner-up finishes at Wimbledon, Goran Ivanisevic seemed to be running out of time in his search for the Wimbledon trophy. But then came the summer of 2001. Ivanisevic was ranked the World No. 125. This was not good enough to earn him an automatic place in the main draw at Wimbledon but, given his past record as a three-time finalist, the organizers decided to give him a wildcard entry. He reached the final, setting-up a match with the previous year's runner-up and former US Open champion Patrick Rafter. (It was the first singles final which Ivanisevic had qualified for since 1998.) In a match lasting three hours and one minute, Goran Ivanisevic defeated Rafter 63, 36, 63, 26, 97. Just two months shy of his 30th birthday, Ivanisevic 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. The 2001 Wimbledon win proved to be the last of Ivanisevic'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. Over the course of his career Goran Ivanisevic won 22 top-level singles titles and 9 doubles titles. In 2005, Goran Ivanisevic 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 32. In June 2006, he performed in the Calderstones Park tournament in Liverpool. In November 2006, Goran Ivanisevic won the the Merrill Lynch Tour of Champions tournament in Frankfurt, defeating John McEnroe 76(12), 76(1).
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