THE SCOOP: THURSDAY, AUGUST 9

Goran back in gear at Cincy tournament

By Sandra Harwitt
tennisreporters.net

Susan Mullane Camerawork USA, Inc.

MASON, OHIO, AUG. 8 – Eventually the celebrations and partying after winning Wimbledon had to end for Goran Ivanisevic, which is why he is here at the Tennis Masters Series-Cincinnati gearing up for the upcoming U.S. Open.

But that fact doesn’t keep the popular Ivanisevic from still remembering the most glorious days of his life. After all, when you are a superstar professional athlete from a small country trying to find its way after a recent civil war, a triumph like winning Wimbledon receives a hero’s welcome.

Of his first impression of his native city Split after Wimbledon, Ivanisevic says, “That was the thing you see and then you die. Almost 200,000 people and the city is 300.000 people. They said everybody who was not dead came to welcome me there. I can’t describe it – it was just great. I didn’t know what to say so I just took my clothes off.”

And that’s the very reason why tennis fans around the world have lived and died with Goran – they expect the unexpected will always happen when the citizen from Split is in town. After all, can anyone remember another famous athlete accorded a major celebration – a ticker-tape parade down Broadway, an enshrinement in a Hall of Fame – who stripped down to their underwear because they didn’t know what else they could do on such a fabulous occasion in their life.

It sounds like Goran still has to pinch himself to remember what he did last month at Wimbledon. That’s probably not that surprising since his past memories of the tournament were of three demoralizing final losses – twice to Pete Sampras and once to Andre Agassi.

“I’m realizing it more all the time, but sometimes I forget,” said Ivanisevic, who will play world No. 1 Gustavo Kuerten in the third round of the TMS-Cincinnati on Thursday. “But then when I see the pictures that people give me to sign, me with the trophy, then I say, ‘Okay, it’s me I won Wimbledon.”

Another way that Ivanisevic has understood his accomplishment is the media frenzy that immediately followed his five-set Wimbledon victory over Patrick Rafter.

“I did more interviews in ten days then all my career,” Ivanisevic smiled. “I mean, Wimbledon, I went after the final, I went to celebrate. I came home 6:30 in the morning and in front of my door the TV crew was waiting for me. So I gave interview 6:30 in the morning, next 7:15, and then BBC Breakfast show 8:15, then press conference at 11. And then I flew back home. And then there I gave a lot of interviews. I knew I did something good because of all those interviews.”

Those of us at tennisreporters.net agree with Goran that he did something very good – he showed people you have to have heart and fairytales can come true.
On the brink of retirement at the beginning of the year – Ivanisevic actually flew to Melbourne in January to play in the Australian Open qualifying event and left in distress after losing in the first round of the qualifying – the Croatian is now putting aside plans for abandoning the sport. Instead he plans to have shoulder surgery at the end of the year and if all goes well, return to the tour sometime next season.

One reason Ivanisevic has the desire to continue on is that he understands how important his success is for Croatia.

“You know, the whole world saw this picture of Split, my welcoming party,” said Ivanisevic, telling the truth as major networks and CNN showed the jubilation here in the United States. “Everybody was talking about my winning Wimbledon. It’s a big thing for my country and my city. I did a big thing, not only for myself, but for Croatia.

“And they’re all thankful for that.”