Inside the Mind of Goran Ivanisevic

[stotty]

A truly great contest has life itself coursing through its veins.

Pure and utter nonsense.

The greatest contests of all time nearly always have something equally as important as the sport itself running alongside them.

Don Budge v Gottfried von Cramm

Jessie Owens 100m victory in the 1936 Olympics

Mohammed Ali v George Foreman

When sport has life itself riding on it you have a truly riveting spectacle. A truly great contest has life itself coursing through its veins.

[don_budge]

Culmination Point 2001 Wimbledon…Stanley Kubrik's Space Odyssey

Seems harsh. Just an opinion.

Sometimes when one speaks the truth it can come off as being harsh…even heretical.

Oh, it's all opinions. Man, that final was a blast! The great Don Budge himself would have enjoyed it.

Some are opinions…some are simply statements of fact. A politician can argue the difference. As far as Don Budge enjoying that particular match…it's debatable. Don was a guy who wore long white trousers to the end. This particular brand of tennis being played with virtual bazookas for racquets would have offended his sense…of sensibility.

What's not to love about Wimbledon 2001?

Wimbledon 2001 was what you call a culmination point. The tennis had actually become so bad that once again the ITF brain trust decided to intervene and reengineer the game. The points had become way too fast on the hallowed grass of Wimbledon…so much so that it was an abomination of the real game of tennis. Classic tennis.

It was in 2002 that the Wimbledon final was first played in the finals from the baseline. Lleyton Hewitt versus David Nalbanian.

The emergence of a young lion edging a legend (roger, Sampras);

This was truly the match of the tournament. Unfortunately the tennis had become way to fast and the points were way too short. One can only imagine if these two were playing with wooden racquets and they duelled for five sets. That would have been a match to behold. Roger Federer showing the first signs of his coming greatness as Pete Sampras' star was beginning to lose some of its luster. A classic handing over of the mantel. Sampras was 30 years old and Federer just 19.

Here…this match is worth watching. The Ivanisevic rendition is alright relegated to the dust bin…except for its historical significance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrDW4MF_xMI

The Open Era of tennis debuted in 1968. Arthur Ashe played and defeated Tom Okker of the Netherlands in the first open U. S. Open final. Here's a little taste of the tennis that was being played in 1968 which is coincidentally the first year that I began playing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pS0j_UHAk3E

Sixteen years later brings us to the Orwellian year of 1984. 1984 was the first year that all four contestants used oversized graphite racquet in the semifinals of a Grand Slam event. It took just 16 years for the money to corrupt a beautiful and "pure" sport beyond recognition. FUBAR comes to mind…fucked up beyond all recognition.

Here are the two All-American Bad Boys in the semifinals using their new suped up equipment. These two were among the very last to cave in to the new equipment. Pat Cash and Ivan Lendl were in the other semifinal. This particular Saturday at Flushing Meadows became known as "The Greatest Day in Tennis" for a long time. Bud Collins himself wrote as much about it. The truth is…the big racquets gave the tennis a sense of a new awesomeness, but in fact the greatness of the tennis was probably due to the fact the contestants were using superior equipment. Not that the tennis wasn't great in itself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_lugeOh-Ls

The oversized racquets had been creeping steadily into the game since the mid 70's after Howard Head somehow obtained a patent to manufacture the oversized monstrosities. 1984 was another culmination point in the sport of tennis. It was 16 years after the game went open. 2001 is 17 years after 1984…and here we are 15 years later in 2016. Do I sense another culmination point? I do.

Just an opinion? Not...

[gzhpcu]

I was happy for Goran, but sad for Pat.

[maxply]

Oh, it's all opinions. Man, that final was a blast! The great Don Budge himself would have enjoyed it.

Not the greatest display of pure tennis, but certainly the all-time most uniquely entertaining atmosphere at a Wimbledon final. And the fifth set did not disappoint. 9-7!

What's not to love about Wimbledon 2001?
The emergence of a young lion edging a legend (roger, Sampras);
outsiders getting in (the fans and also the two finalists);
On the way to the final, Goran the wildcard overcoming Safin, roddick, rusedski and hometown hero, tim henman...then winning the title against a perennial contender who had beaten Agassi in the semifinal;
Rafter and Goran, both with a history of heartbreaking final losses at the cathedral of tennis.

Great day for the game. Thankful I got to see it live. Thankful it is on youtube for the young to see.

[biodegradableeric1979]

Seems harsh. Just an opinion.

[don_budge]

Greatest match of all time…GMOAT

He played and won the greatest match of all time.

Pure and utter nonsense.

[maxply]

It was certainly an incredible atmosphere. That 2001 Wimbledon final vs. Rafter. After a water logged final Sunday, the match was moved to Monday and allowed for open admission. Huge number of rowdy Croatians and Aussies filled centre court. The match itself was the last true serve and volley match to be played. It was epic...
yelling at the screen. Hopping up and down. Rooting, cheering, screaming. I don't think I ever wanted a player to win a match as badly as I wanted it for Goran.
He finally won. I cried...

Memories...

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

Klacr, wow, amen, Yes.
I can still feel the jaw soreness of that Monday, from four hours of smiling and laughing, marveling at Centre Court's most remarkable ever atmosphere. I definitely remember shedding tears of joy at the end of that crazy last game of the fifth set. Impossible to dislike or show less than a ton of respect patrick rafter....but that "People's Monday" was a heck of a moment for all tennis fans.

Not to get off topic...
but here are some other notable "pure joy" matches (from my perspective as a tennis player and fan since kindergarten):

75 wimbledon final, cassius clay over foreman....i mean, ashe over jimmy;

77 forest hills final, vilas over jimmy;

1981, Mac overcomes borg at Wimbledon;

Yannick swashbuckles past Wilander in the 83 Roland garros final, pioneering the exuberant bear hug with ecstatic father in the stands;

1985, 17 yr old Becker over curren, the conqueror of both jimmy and mac;

Cashy over lendl, 87 wimbledon final, bear hug with dad II;

1989, Chang somehow overcoming Lendl then later, Edberg at roland Garros (i still cannot believe this result);

90? Roland garros, andres gomez over Andre;

91 wimbledon, stich stuns boris;

Davis cup, US over the Swiss, mac and pete winning the dubs;

Aus open quarters, with pete serving bombs past courier amid crying jags over Gully's illness;

1995 davis cup final, Saaamprrrras d. Mother Russia in singles, dubs and singles;

Pete over paddy rafter in their wimbledon final, emotional bear hug with dad III;

1999, Andre over medvedev after getting ripped in the first two sets, roland garros final;

2000, guga kuerten over magnus Norman after a rocky tiebreaker;

2002 us open final, pete over a surging Andre;

2003, roger over flipper, wimbledon final;

The aus open roger won with Rod Laver presenting the trophy...just beautiful;

Roger grabbing the 2009 french open;

Muzza over Djoko, wimbledon final;

Stanimal, putting together an absolute gem, denying Djokovic the 2015 Coupe des Mousquetaires.

But none of these quite matches up to that People's Monday at Centre Court. What a celebration of this great game. Well, okay, maybe Guga's heart on the clay at Chatrier.

Ok, confirming my citizenship in tennisdorkland, i am heading elsewhere on this site to watch one of my favorite ever music videos, God Save The Serve and Volley.

[klacr]

You said it! When the crowd was going nuts and Ivanisevic kept that intensity going, I was thinking, "COME THE **** ON!" Tennis would be on another level exciting if the ATP would loosen up a little on the crowd rules.

An easy thing to do is to bring the people in the upper portions of the stadium down to the front seats. Tournaments do not look good on TV when first 10 rows are empty. Get people close to the action.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[biodegradableeric1979]

You said it! When the crowd was going nuts and Ivanisevic kept that intensity going, I was thinking, "COME THE **** ON!" Tennis would be on another level exciting if the ATP would loosen up a little on the crowd rules.

[klacr]

emotions

He played and won the greatest match of all time.

It was certainly an incredible atmosphere. That 2001 Wimbledon final vs. Rafter. After a water logged final Sunday, the match was moved to Monday and allowed for open admission. Huge number of rowdy Croatians and Aussies filled centre court. The match itself was the last true serve and volley match to be played. It was epic.

I remember exactly where I was at the time. I was a Nike tennis camp instructor in Michigan. I asked for that Monday off so I could watch it. All the instructors were staying in the dorms provided by the hosting college. I had a huge tube television in a cramped dorm room. I was yelling at the screen. Hopping up and down. Rooting, cheering, screaming. I don't think I ever wanted a player to win a match as badly as I wanted it for Goran.
He finally won. I cried. It was just the 2nd time I cried after a tennis match, the first being 1995 French Open when Thomas Muster claimed victory. I was on the verge of tears in 1996 when Richard Krajicek dominated in his Wimbledon campaign and took the title, but I held it together, barely.

Memories...

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[biodegradableeric1979]

Goran will be Goran. Unique talent with unique ideas. One of the most entertaining and unpredictable players to watch.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca raton

He played and won the greatest match of all time.

[maxply]

Yeah, but it really ought to be three articles. One for each Goran.

1
The good goran,
2
the bad goran and
3
emergency 911 Goran.

[johnyandell]

kenh,

Good one!

[kenh]

I knew it would be a short article from its subject.

[klacr]

Goran will be Goran. Unique talent with unique ideas. One of the most entertaining and unpredictable players to watch.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca raton