Goran Ivanišević

Goran Ivanišević was a Croatian tennis player, known for his huge serve, who played professionally from 1988 to 2004. Ivanišević achieved a career-best singles ranking of #2 in the world in July 1994, and a doubles ranking of 20 in the world in January 1992. He is known as being the only wildcard entrant to win a Grand Slam singles title (through 2023). Ivanišević made almost $20 million during his playing career and he competed at four Olympic Games.

Ivanišević won his first of 22 ATP singles title at the Stuttgart Open in July 1990. Two years later he would find himself playing in the final of Wimbledon where he lost to Andre Agassi. Ivanišević would reach the final of Wimbledon in 1994 and 1998, losing on each occasion to Pete Sampras. For the next three years he would struggle with a shoulder injury, which also impacted upon his world ranking.

By the time of the 2001 Wimbledon tournament he was ranked 125 in the world which was not good enough to earn him an automatic spot in the main draw. Due to being a three-time runner-up, however, Ivanišević was awarded with a wildcard entry. He went on to beat Pat Rafter in the final to become the first wildcard entry to win a Grand Slam singles title. As a result of his win his singles ranking improved by 109 places, moving him up to number 16 in the world.

Ivanišević competed at four Olympic Games; 1988 Seoul, 1992 Barcelona, 1996 Atlanta, and 2000 Sydney. At the 1988 Seoul Games he competed in the singles and doubles representing Yugoslavia. At the 1992 Games he had his best Olympic performance winning bronze in both the singles and doubles. Ivanišević was also the flag bearer for Croatia at the Opening Ceremony. After his retirement in 2004 Ivanišević coached several players including Marin Čilić, Tomáš Berdych, Milos Raonic, and most notably, Novak Đoković.