Ivanišević Opens Up About His Toughest Opponent: 'He Ruined 20 Years of My Life'
The legendary Croatian tennis player revealed in a candid interview who made his career difficult and kept him up at night, recalling his Wimbledon finals.
The legendary Croatian tennis player revealed in a candid interview who made his career difficult and kept him up at night, recalling his Wimbledon finals.
Goran Ivanišević, the legendary Croatian tennis player and former coach of Novak Djokovic, has revealed in a candid interview who was his toughest opponent in his career. For Goran, there is no doubt: it's Pete Sampras.
"Definitely Pete Sampras. He ruined my life. He ruined my dreams. Because of him, I couldn't sleep," Ivanišević told Večernji list, reflecting on their legendary clashes on the grass courts of Wimbledon.
He recalled his journey to the 1994 final, which included a spectacular semifinal victory. "In the Wimbledon semifinal in 1994, I beat Becker 6-2, 7-6, 6-4. That was definitely my best match at Wimbledon. Maybe even of my life. I really killed Boris that day; I played incredibly. He had no chance, and do you know what Boris means on grass?" Ivanišević reminisced. After the match, Becker told him at the net: "You played really great. You'd better win the tournament."
But in the final stood Sampras. "Then the final and the man who ruined 20 years of my life. Mr. Sampras. I played really well, but he was better. He won the first two sets in tie-breaks, and then the third 6-0. Not because I played badly, but because he was always a step ahead," he explained. That story of Sampras as an insurmountable obstacle repeated itself later. "I had my chance the following year. We met in the semifinals, but he won again in five sets. I was better the whole match, but he won the key points. The story kept repeating itself, like déjà vu."
Despite everything, Ivanišević holds immense respect for his great rival. "I am extremely proud to have played in the era of Pete Sampras. I played fantastic matches against him and shared the locker room with him. Being second behind Sampras, perhaps the greatest tennis player in history. Still, he ruined 20 years of my life," he concluded.
Ivanišević played in the Wimbledon final four times. His first loss came in 1992 against Andre Agassi. Then came two painful defeats to Pete Sampras, in 1994 with a 3-0 score in sets and in 1998 with a tight 3-2. However, in 2001, Goran finally defeated Patrick Rafter to win the title, writing one of the most beautiful fairy tales in the history of Croatian sports.
