The big croat

I still remember the wimbledon championships 2001. It was my first year in college. Being an avid tennis fan, i never used to miss a single grandslam match esp. wimbledon. Wimbledon is always very special. Though it rains every year during wimbledon, one feels like rain is also a part of the show. Because of the rain delays, i have seen many matches swinging from one player to the other. One such match was the semifinal between Tim Henman and Goran Ivanisevic. It was a real treat to watch. Henman being the local hero was the crowd's favourite and was cheered as usual. The match was evenly poised and when it looked like Henman was on top it rained. The match swung to Goran's favour.
Then came the big final. Though i like Rafter, on that day i wanted Goran to win it. After all he had lost all of his three previous wimbledon finals(92, 94, 98). The majority of the crowd was on Rafter's favour. The whole australian cricket team was watching the match supporting Rafter of course. Goran's father was watching the match as well. When Goran won the final set 9-7 which is the longest in wimbledon's history i was very pleased. He became the first wildcard entry ever to win a wimbledon.
Goran was very inconsistent during the majority of his years. One match he will beat a top player and the next one he will lose to an unseeded player. He was always known for the wrong reasons on court. He broke many rackets. He was often compared to John McEnroe. He is a notorious spitter on ground. Despite of all this i like him very much. I can watch him serve 24 hours. Such a treat to watch when he is serving. He once said, "In every game I play there are three players in me that could surface anytime, Good Goran, Bad Goran, Crazy Goran! They can all serve aces." I like him for the fact that he is from a small country. He has inpired many croats and now there are a series of big serving croats. Ivan Ljubicic, Mario Ancic, Ivo Karlovic to name a few.This post of mine is a tribute to the great Goran and nothing else.