Goran's family drama

13 April 2012

Bright and early on Monday morning the familiar figure of Goran Ivanisevic will stride into Wimbledon and head back to Centre Court for the first time since his extraordinary triumph in last year's Championship.

A shoulder injury is preventing him defending his title but, as the All England Club's special guest on the first day, he will sit in the Royal Box and cast his champion's eye over the action. Ivanisevic may even be invited to step down to courtside and ceremonially toss the first coin, reflecting no doubt on the moment he beat Pat Rafter in last year's final to complete the wildest of wild card stories.

But as Ivanisevic surveys the packed crowd on Monday he may also think of his father Srdjan - this year enjoying a peaceful couple of weeks in Split - and how tragedy almost marred his moment of triumph on the final Monday of last year's rain-delayed Grand Slam event.

In a remarkable family interview, Srdjan, whose greying hair and bushy moustache became a familiar feature at last year's Championships, has revealed that the stress of watching Goran last year almost brought on a repeat of his long-standing heart trouble.

The problems began when Goran wasted a second match point against Rafter.

As the rest of the crowd sat gripped by the intensity of the moment, Srdjan felt a sharp pain in his chest. Unobtrusively, he reached into his pocket and took out a pill.

"After the second match point in the final, I felt a pain in my chest," explained Srdjan, a 59-year-old electronic-engineering professor. "You can imagine what I was going through. So, quickly, I took a pill and it was okay, although Nikki Pilic (former tour player and a family friend) sitting next to me thought I was going to die!

"It first happened after the Marat Safin match in the quarter-finals. I went back to the house we were renting in Wimbledon and lay down to recover from the excitement when I felt this pain in my chest and then my back - which is a very bad sign. So I put a pill under my tongue, as I had been told by the doctor, and lay down. After a time, the pain passed."

Srdjan not only survived that moment but the drama of the final as well. Pain over, Ivanisevic senior gave his son a public embrace of approval when the new champion reached the players' box to share his first success in four Wimbledon finals. Back home his mother Gorana was watching that glorious moment on television, having spent too many years driving her son to tournaments, washing his kit and fretting over his behaviour and results.

"I cannot bear it any more," she explained. "It's too much for me. I had 20 years of taking Goran to his matches and watching him play and that was enough.

"I wanted only two things at Wimbledon; first for Srdjan to survive and that if Goran wasn't going to win the title, then to lose to Tim Henman in the semi-finals.

"I could not have taken another defeat in the final."

She need not have worried - Goran's place in tennis history was assured. To mark that moment last year Tim Phillips. chairman of the All England Club, went into the men's locker room with the special tie to confirm his membership of the most exclusive club in tennis.

Phillips was confronted by a still hyper Ivanisevic, who was now stripped down to his shorts. As Phillips handed over the tie, the new champion's face lit up. He placed it round his bare neck and told the chairman cheerfully: "I am the craziest member of your club."

This wild, wild card champion continued his outrageous celebration of a title triumph almost everyone in tennis enjoyed, by stripping down to his pants in front of an estimated 200,000 fans in his home town of Split.

He was a national icon before winning Wimbledon, now he is quite simply the most famous Croat in the world.

This complex man, who was ranked 125 in the world before last year's victory, did not even feel part of the men's professional tour when he was offered his wild card.

"I felt for many months last year that I didn't belong on the tour because of the injury problems," he admitted.

"But, then everything started to come together and I sensed the attitude in the men's locker room started to change. 'Goran is Back' was the feeling and I felt it too.

"I actually changed rackets at Rosmalen just a week before Wimbledon. Crazy thing to do after all these years but Head (the manufacturers) had been at me to change and it really helped my shoulder. The frames were not so stiff.

"After I beat Fredrik Jonsson in the first round in straight sets at Wimbledon I knew everything was okay.

"And I got lucky, for sure. The rain came at the right time against Henman in the semi-finals and everything was good for me.

"For the first time at Wimbledon, I felt as if God wanted me to win. "I am Wimbledon champion. I still cannot believe it and now nothing matters and I can die. I am Wimbledon champion."

Not only that, he vows to be back next year - this time as a player.

A full version of this interview with Ivanisevic appears in Deuce, the official ATP magazine.

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