Goran Ivanishevich (photo below) is one of the most outstanding players in the history of tennis. Many accused him of lack of skills and their diversity. Despite this, Goran's career was full of bright moments. And not only on the court, but also outside it. This article will describe a short biography of a tennis player.
Childhood
Goran Ivanishevich was born in the city of Split (Yugoslavia) in 1971. The boy's parents were scientists. A child has a passion for tennis at a very young age. The first coach of Goran was Elena Gencic, who was preparing at the time the legendary Monica Seles. Seeing the success of his son, his parents decided to support him and sold the house in order to pay for the tuition at the academy of Niki Pilich (Germany) with the proceeds.
Carier start
Young Goran Ivanishevich trained with full dedication, and soon it bore fruit: victory in the Italian open championship. The tennis player at that time was only 16 years old. A little later, Goran submits to the US doubles. At the end of 1988, Ivanishevich was in third place in the junior rating and decided to move to the next level.
However, the first professional tournament ended for the athlete rather quickly. Goran was knocked out in the first match. The young man realized that one strong submission (later it will become his business card) is not enough to win. The tennis player continued to work on improving his own game.
Heyday
In 1989, Goran Ivanishevich, whose personal life will be described below, quickly burst into the ATP rating. Several successful performances allowed the 18-year-old tennis player to enter the TOP-100. And if we consider the result for the entire season, the Croatian has risen by about 400 positions, finishing in the fourth ten.
After several semi-finals and finals, Goran won the first major victories in competitions at the Grand Prix level and the ground of Stuttgart. All this led the Croat to the TOP-10 rating, where the athlete entrenched himself for a very long time.
Separately, it is worth noting the success of the Yugoslav national team. With the advent of Ivanishevich, the team’s game at the Davis Cup became more confident. And at the Olympics, the team managed to get into the quarterfinals.
War
In 1991, Croatia declared its independence from Yugoslavia. A war broke out between the two countries. Goran Ivanishevich was very upset by this event and helped his countrymen as much as he could. For example, an athlete participated in many charity tournaments, transferring the proceeds to the Victory Fund of the Croatian army.
Climbing
After a year, all passions subsided, a significant rise was noted in the athlete's career. In 1992, Goran Ivanishevich (athlete's height is 193 centimeters) lost only in the Wimbledon final. The same thing happened in 1994. In the first case, Andre Agassi stopped him , and two years later, the American Pete Sampras. Goran will lose the last again in 12 months, but already in the semifinals. And after three years, Sampras will again defeat the Croat.
Ivanishevich’s countless attempts to seize the trophy made him the main “loser” of Wimbledon. Despite this, Goran was very successful in other, less status competitions. As a result, the tennis player reached the second line of the rating, which was the best achievement in his career.
Sunset
In 1999, Ivanishevich began to fail health. A shoulder injury received in the past became chronic and did not allow the athlete to play at the same level. Two years later, Goran slipped into the second hundred rating. Yes, and in the team things were no better.
Miracle
In 2001, the tennis player managed to take the 125th line of the rating. The organizers of Wimbledon noticed this and invited Goran to the tournament. Ivanishevich considered this opportunity as a gift of fate and was not going to miss it. On the way to the finals, he defeated Marat Safin and Andy Roddick. Then, for three days, the Croat dealt with Tim Hanman. And in conclusion, he patrolled Rafter with a score of 9: 7.
Ivanishevich was the first (and so far the only) tennis player to win at Wimbledon due to a wild card (invitation card for an athlete who did not qualify). The young man dedicated his victory to Drazen Petrovich, a friend who died in 1993.
Career ending
In the homeland of Goran, hundreds of thousands of enthusiastic fans met. He became the athlete of the year for the fifth time. In 2004, Ivanishevich spent the last match on Wimbledon's beloved court.
Achievements
Goran set his first "eternal" record in 1994. According to statistics, the tennis player completed 1477 innings per season. Another achievement of the athlete is that he has filed 30 aces per match 34 times in his entire career.
Personal life
Since 1993, Goran Ivanishevich traveled to world tournaments accompanied by former top model Daniela Mikhalich. Their romance lasted for four years. The breakup affected Goran’s career very positively: for five years he was in the top 10 of the ATP rating.
In 2009, Ivanishevich married Tatyana Dragovich. Before that, they met for ten years and managed to have two children: son Emanuel and daughter Amber.