Mario Ančić

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Mario Ančić
[[File:Ancic Toronto Masters 2008.jpg
Ančić at Canada Masters, July 2008|frameless|upright=1]]
Country (sports) Croatia
ResidenceMonte Carlo, Monaco
Born (1984-03-30) March 30, 1984 (age 40)
Split,[1] SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia
Height1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)
Turned pro2001
Retired2011
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize moneyUS$3,954,213
Singles
Career record205-130
Career titles3
Highest rankingNo. 7 (July 10, 2006)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open4R (2003, 2007)
French OpenQF (2006)
WimbledonSF (2004)
US Open2R (2005)
Doubles
Career record65–39
Career titles5
Highest rankingNo. 47 (June 14, 2004)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open2R (2004)
French Open3R (2004)
Wimbledon1R (2003)
US OpenQF (2003)
Other doubles tournaments
Olympic Games Bronze Medal (2004)
Last updated on: November 1, 2010.
Olympic medal record
Representing  Croatia
Men's Tennis
Bronze medal – third place 2004 Athens Doubles

Mario Ančić (Serbo-Croatian pronunciation: [mâːrio âːntʃitɕ]) (born March 30, 1984) is a retired Croatian professional tennis player. He has won three singles titles and five doubles titles. His highest international ranking came during the 2006 ATP Tour, when he reached No. 7 in singles. Apart from his success on the ATP Tour, Mario helped Croatia to win the 2005 Davis Cup and at the Athens Olympic Games in 2004, he and Ivan Ljubičić won a bronze medal in doubles for Croatia.

As a teenager making his Grand Slam debut at the 2002 Wimbledon Championships, he defeated 7th-seeded Roger Federer. This win also made him the last player to defeat Federer at Wimbledon (until Rafael Nadal) and on grass courts; and during the years, he was known as the last man to beat Federer, until Nadal's victory over Federer in the 2008 Wimbledon Championships finals.[4] His best performance at Grand Slams came at the 2004 Wimbledon Championships, when he reached the semifinals. Due to his success at Wimbledon and grass courts, many saw in Mario a successor of Goran Ivanišević,[5] the 2001 Wimbledon Champion and a former No. 2 in singles, earning a nickname New Goran[6] and Baby Goran.[3]

During 2007 and 2008, mononucleosis and minor injuries forced him to miss many major events, and his ranking dropped from No. 9 in January 2007 to No. 135 in January 2008.[7][8] As of June 14, 2010, he is currently No. 463 in singles rankings. He was coached by Fredrik Rosengren from August 2005 - October 2008.[9]

Personal life

Mario was born in Split to Stipe and Nilda Ančić. His father owns a supermarket chain, and his mother is a financial adviser. His older brother, Ivica, and younger sister, Sanja were also professional tennis players. Ivica achieved a career high ATP Ranking of 378 in 1997, while Sanja, was a world top 10 junior in 2005 and achieved a ranking of 159 on the WTA Tour in 2006.[9] Ančić was raised in a Catholic family and states that his faith is very important to him. He is very close to his uncle who is a priest, ex missionary.[10]

Legal career

From 2002 to 2008, Mario was a law student at the University of Split; he graduated from its law school on April 14, 2008, with a thesis entitled "ATP Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow", describing the legal foundation and organization of the ATP Tour.[11]

Illness forced Ančić to be off courts in much of the 2009 tennis season, and he started his residency in the lawyers office of Turudić in Zagreb;[12] but he announced he will freeze his residency for some time due to his tennis career. In 2009 he spoke two times at the Harvard Law School about his law and tennis experiences, and the second time about doping cases in tennis.[12][13]

Tennis career

First steps

Ančić grew up two doors over from the Firule tennis club, where he started playing at age seven.[14] From age 10 on, Mario practiced there with Goran Ivanišević, with whom he played doubles matches later in his career. In 1996, he served as a ball boy when Ivanišević played in the Croatia-Australia Davis Cup tie in Split.[4]

Early career (2000–2002)

As a junior player, he rose to No. 1 in the junior world-rankings, on January 2, 2001. He made the finals in boys' singles at the 2000 Australian Open (losing to Andy Roddick) and the 2000 Wimbledon Championships (losing to Nicolas Mahut). Ivanišević was his doubles partner in both his Croatian Davis Cup Team debut and at the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in doubles. The duo lost in the opening round at the Olympics. At first, Mario mostly played Futures and Davis Cup tournaments, winning one title in Zagreb; and from August 2001 he started to play Challenger tournaments, wining four in singles and one in doubles. He compiled a record of 30-16 in Challenger play in 2002.

ATP Tour career (2002–2005)

His ATP debut was at Miami Masters where he drew a wild card, but he lost in the opening round.[15] The highlight of his Grand Slam debut at the 2002 Wimbledon Championships was the major upset of his first round defeat of Roger Federer, the 7th seed, on Centre Court; 6-3, 7-6(2), 6-3 in just under two hours.[16] In so doing he became the first teenager to win on his Wimbledon debut on Center Court since Björn Borg triumphed in 1973.[9][17] After the match, he confessed to having received a few pointers from Ivanišević, and the British media dubbed him the New Goran.[6] But in the next round he lost to Jan Vacek. His second Grand Slam appearance was the US Open, where he made it into the main singles being drawn as a lucky loser, but he retired in the fifth set of the opening round against Dominik Hrbatý because of leg cramps.[18] He finished the 2002 season in the top 100 in singles with ten wins in two straight weeks at two Challengers in Prague and Milan.

Ančić kicked off 2003 with his Australian Open debut, losing to Juan Carlos Ferrero in the fourth round. The following week, he won his last Challenger tournament in Hamburg, defeating Rafael Nadal in the final. After that, Mario started to play on ATP Masters Series events, but couldn't get past the first rounds. In late May, after nine straight losses, he got as far as the quarterfinal at St. Pölten. He also made the quarterfinal at the Stockholm Open in September. He had more success with doubles. In July, with Andy Ram, he won his first ATP Tour title at Indianapolis Tennis Championships; and a few week later, with Ivan Ljubičić, he reached a quarterfinal at the US Open, losing to Bob and Mike Bryan. He was the first player to be beaten by Rafael Nadal in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament, at Wimbledon in 2003.

Goran Ivanišević and Mario Ančić playing doubles during the 2004 Queen's Club Championships

At the ATP Indesit Milano Indoor, in February 2004, Ančić made into his first singles ATP final, beating on the way No. 6 seed Rafael Nadal and No. 3 seed Tommy Robredo, before losing the third set in tiebreak, to Anthony Dupuis in the final. In June and July he posted his best ever results on grass with a third round showing at Queen's Club Championships, losing to Andy Roddick, and a semifinal at Ordina Open, losing to Guillermo Coria. At the 2004 Wimbledon Championships, Mario made his best ever Grand Slam result, reaching to semifinals. On the way, he defeated three seeded players, including British Tim Henman in quarterfinal, in straights sets; and finally, he again lost to Roddick, 4-6, 6-4, 5-7, 5-7. In reaching to Grand Slam semifinals, he jumped 36 places on the ATP singles ranking, to No. 27.[19] In doubles, he teamed up with Ivan Ljubičić, and represented Croatia at the 2004 Summer Olympics. They won a bronze medal, losing to González and Massú team in semifinal, and wining against Bhupathi and Paes, with a score 16-14 in the third set. In straight three weeks from February 7, 2005, he made win-lose score of 10-3 by reaching two semifinals and one final. In Marseille and Rotterdam where he lost to Ljubičić and Federer in semis, and in Scottsdale where he lost in the final by Wayne Arthurs. Aldo he could not repeat last year's performance at Wimbledon, on grass courts, he won his first ATP singles title at Ordina Open, by beating the defending champion, Michaël Llodra; and on clay courts, together with Julian Knowle, he won his second doubles title at BMW Open. His 2005 highlights also include final at the Japan Open Tennis Championships, losing to Wesley Moodie.

Career-high (2006)

Ančić started on the 2006 ATP Tour with strong note in his second tournament of the year at Auckland, where he defeated top seed Fernando González on his way to the final. However, he could not repeat his form in the final, going down in straight sets to Jarkko Nieminen. In February, he also reached final at Marseille, losing to Arnaud Clément. He made in quarter-finals at two Masters and two Grand Slams tournaments. Mario was defeated two times by David Nalbandian, at Miami and Rome; and two times by Roger Federer, at Grand Slams, French Open and Wimbledon. He also reached his career high at Master Series event, reaching into semi-finals at Hamburg Masters. A week before Wimbledon, Mario successfully defended his 2005 title at ‘s-Hertogenbosch. After Wimbledon, Mario reached No. 7, his career high in singles.[20]

At the 2006 French Open, he had a shoving incident with Paul Capdeville at the end of his second round match. Ančić was bothered by the Chilean's repeated complaints to the chair umpire, including just before the post match handshake, Ančić told Capdeville to drop it, after that Capdeville shoved Ančić. Both of them were fined $3,000.[21][22]

Ančić missed the US hard court season, due to a knee injury received in a jet skiing accident, and just before the 2006 US Open, a back injury.[23] In September, in the first event after the summer injuries, he reached final at China Open, losing to Marcos Baghdatis. Mario also teamed-up with Mahesh Bhupathi, and won two doubles titles in Beijing and Mumbai. In October, he won his third singles title, at St. Petersburg Open. At Paris Masters, Ančić lost to Nikolay Davydenko, in the quarterfinals. If Ančić had won, he would have secured the final spot in the field, narrowly missing a spot in the eight-man Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai.[24]

Mononucleosis, and return to the Tour (2007-2010)

After a successful 2006 season, Ančić began the year by representing Croatia with his younger sister, Sanja Ančić, at the 2007 Hopman Cup, but they did not advance from the group stage. He then entered the 2007 Australian Open as the ninth seed, and advance to a fourth round, where he played against Andy Roddick, seeded sixth. He lost the match, after Roddick broke Ančić in the fifth game of the fifth set, then held that advantage, serving out the match and winning with the final result 3–6, 6–3, 1–6, 7–5, 4–6.[25]

At Marseille, Ančić retired in the first round, and was diagnosed with mononucleosis, also known as glandular fever.[26] Later, he confessed that he was playing sick a week before in a match against Germany in the Davis Cup, and the virus had almost certainly started to affect him at the Australian Open.[2] Due to his illness, Ančić spent most of the next ten weeks in bed,[27] and missing six months from the Tour.

Ančić started training in June with his Swedish coach, Fredrik Rosengren, in the Slovenian Alps;[27] and after he withdrew from two tournaments in July, Mario returned in August at Canada Masters and at Cincinnati Masters, where he lost in the second rounds. He was offered a wild card for main draw in the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament in New Haven, but he turned it down with the explanation that he needed matches.[28] Mario fractured a small bone at the gym a week before the US Open, which was his third Grand Slam to miss in 2007.[2] In October, he made his first big result after the illness, into the quarter-finals at Madrid Masters beating on the way No. 8 seed James Blake and Paul-Henri Mathieu, before losing to Novak Djokovic in straight sets. In 2007, he dropped 74 places, from number 9 to number 83 at the end of the 2007 ATP Tour.[8]

Ančić hitting a backhand at the 2008 Indian Wells Masters

Ančić started the 2008 season again with illness, and was forced to withdraw from the tournaments in Australia, and missed his fourth Grand Slam in a row.[29] His first 2008 event was at Marseille in February, where he beat the 2008 Australian-Open finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and also Marcos Baghdatis. He eventually lost in the final to Andy Murray. At the Indian Wells Masters and Miami Masters, Mario entered the main draw by receiving a wild cards, where he beat three seeded players. Like in 2006, he was beaten by Roger Federer two times, at the French Open in the third round, and at Wimbledon, where he reached a quarter-final. On the way to the quarter-final, he beat No. 32 seed Michaël Llodra, No. 5 seed David Ferrer, and with a comeback win against No. 22 seeded Fernando Verdasco in the fourth round, coming from two sets down to win 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 13-11.[30] By reaching the quarter-final, he jumped 19 places, to No. 24 on the ATP singles rankings.[31] In doubles, he won his fifth title at s'Hertogenbosch with Jürgen Melzer.

Having lost in an opening-round at the Canada Masters and having skipped Cincinnati Masters, as the fatigue intensified and the weight loss mounted, Mario withdrew from the 2008 Summer Olympics,[32] and later the US Open, due to a recurrence of mononucleosis.[33] Ančić returned in September, playing for the Davis Cup. After a good start at beginning of the 2009 season, in May, Ančić announced he will pull out of the French Open, Wimbledon and Davis Cup semifinal match, again because recurrence of mononucleosis.[34][35]

Ančić announced in October 2009 that he plans to start at the end of January 2010 on a couple of European ATP Challengers.[12] His best result was a runner up spot in a futures event in the USA.

Mario's comeback was complete when he returned to the main tour level at the 2010 BNP Paribas Open, he made it to the third round after beating, Bobby Reynolds and surprisingly Julien Benneteau, and lost to Nadal 6-2, 6-2. He didn't have so much success the week after at the Sony Ericsson Open when he lost in the first round to Jérémy Chardy. Ančić continued to play challengers without success. He also lost a tight first round match to Koellerer in a 250 event in Munich. He then received a wild card to Queen's on his favoured surface of grass.[36]

Davis Cup career

Mario Ančić started his Davis Cup career in 1999 at a young age of 15, when he lost to Portuguese player João Cunha Silva.[37] He played an important role in the Croatia Davis Cup team that reached Euro/African Group I in 2002, and the world group from 2003–2006, and also from in 2009. He was part of the Croatian team that won the 2005 Davis Cup title. In singles his major wins came against Michal Mertiňák in 2005, when Croatia played a decisive fifth match against Slovakia for the title,[38] and against Simone Bolelli in 2008 when Croatia defeated Italy for the World Group play-offs. In doubles, his major wins include beating the United States Team of Bob and Mike Bryan in United States in 2005, and the Austrian Team of Julian Knowle and Jürgen Melzer in Austria in 2006, all with Ivan Ljubičić. Paired with Ljubičić, he holds six wins and one loss in the Davis Cup doubles matches.[39]

Retirement

On February 21, 2011, Ančić announced his retirement from professional tennis due to recurring mononucleosis. He ends his career with 3 titles, 208 wins and 135 losses.[40] On February 23, 2011, with tears in his eyes Ančić held an emotional press conference at the Firule tennis club where he officially retired from professional tennis. He stated that; "Heart wanted, but body couldn't, this is the toughest moment of my life. I have never ran away from responsibility. I always strived for perfection, and when I realized that my body cannot provide the kind of tennis I can play, there was no other solution".[41][42]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Mario Ancic". www.atpworldtour.com.
  2. ^ a b c Atkin, Ronald (2008-06-08). "Super Mario Bros battles past virus to make happy return on grass". London: The Independent. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
  3. ^ a b Cheese, Caroline (2004-06-29). "Baby Goran' stands in Henman path". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
  4. ^ a b "Ancic: the last man to beat Federer". ESPN. 2006-07-03. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
  5. ^ Clive White (2003-01-18). "Defeat part of cure for British". London: Telegraph. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
  6. ^ a b Perry, Alex (2002-06-25). ""New Goran" stuns Wimbledon". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
  7. ^ Ravi Ubha (2007-12-19). "Will injuries, illness allow Ancic to regain top-10 form?". ESPN. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
  8. ^ a b "Ancic Rankings History - 2007". ATP Tour. Retrieved 2008-10-17. [dead link]
  9. ^ a b c "Career highlights - personal". ATP Tour. Retrieved 2008-10-17. [dead link]
  10. ^ "Mario Ančić, tenisač". www.velecasnisudac.com (in Croatian). Velečasni Sudac.
  11. ^ "Ancic Earns Law Degree from University of Split". ATP Tour. 2008-04-16. Archived from the original on 2008-05-14. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
  12. ^ a b c Mario Kuss (2009-10-04). "Ančić: Vraćam se krajem siječnja!". Večernji list. Retrieved 2009-10-30. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)Template:Hr icon
  13. ^ Nick Bolettieri (2009-03-17). "Ancic to speak at Harvard". Nick's Picks. Retrieved 2009-10-30.
  14. ^ Edmondson, Richard (2004-07-01). "Talented Ancic the new Split personality". London: The Independent. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
  15. ^ "2002 [[Miami Masters]] - Men' singles" (PDF). Association of Tennis Professionals. 2002-03-18. Retrieved 2008-10-05. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help) [dead link]
  16. ^ "Ancic stuns Federer". BBC Sport. 2002-06-25. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
  17. ^ "Murray will make it, says Ancic". BBC Sport. 2008-05-23. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
  18. ^ "Record number of players calling it quits before finish line". Sports Illustrated. 2002-08-28. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
  19. ^ Mario Ancic Rankings History for 2004
  20. ^ "Ancic's rankings in 2006". ATP Tour. 2006-12-18. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  21. ^ "Despite weather, Federer, Davydenko win". ESPN. 2006-06-01. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  22. ^ "Henin-Hardenne wins wet one in Paris". The Seattle Times. 2006-06-02. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  23. ^ "Mario Ancic, profile". TVNZ. 2007-12-19. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  24. ^ "Blake secures final Masters Cup spot". ESPN. 2006-11-05. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  25. ^ Clarey, Christopher (2007-01-21). "TENNIS; Fish, Into Quarterfinals, Will Face Ex-Housemate". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  26. ^ "Ancic sidelined with mononucleosis". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. 2007-03-02. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
  27. ^ a b Ravi Ubha (2007-12-19). "Will injuries, illness allow Ančić to regain top-10 form?". ESPN. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
  28. ^ "Pilot Pen finalizing field; tourney starts today". New Haven Register. 2007-08-17. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
  29. ^ "Ancic in doubt for Australian Open because of illness". The International Herald Tribune. 2008-01-08. Retrieved 2008-11-13.
  30. ^ Barry Flatman (2008-06-30). "Intelligent Ančić beats Fernando Verdasco in thriller". London: Times Online. Retrieved 2008-10-20. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |published= ignored (help)
  31. ^ "Ancic Rankings History - 2008". ATP Tour. Retrieved 2008-10-17. [dead link]
  32. ^ Ravi Ubha (2008-10-09). "Afflicted Ančić can't seem to catch a break". ESPN. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
  33. ^ Ravi Ubha (2008-08-06). "Sports Roundup". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved 2008-10-17. [dead link]
  34. ^ "Tennis: Unfit Ancic pulls out of French Open". Channel News Asia. 2009-05-21. Retrieved 2009-10-30.
  35. ^ "Mario Ancic to miss Wimbledon and Davis Cup". Daily Times. 2009-06-06. Retrieved 2009-10-30. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  36. ^ http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2010/05/Other/London-Ancic-Gets-Wild-Card.aspx
  37. ^ Davis Cup. "Mario Ančić Profile". Retrieved 2008-10-15.
  38. ^ USA Today (2005-12-04). "Ancic's win clinches first Davis Cup for Croatia". Retrieved 2008-10-15.
  39. ^ Davis Cup. "Profile of Croatia". Retrieved 2008-10-15.
  40. ^ http://espndeportes.espn.go.com/news/story?id=1238577&s=ten&type=story
  41. ^ "Ančić: Srce je željelo, ali tijelo nije, ovo mi je najteži trenutak u životu!". www.jutarnji.hr (in Croatian). Jutarnji list.
  42. ^ "EMOTIVAN OPROŠTAJ Mario Ančić: Ovo mi je najteži trenutak u životu!". www.jutarnji.hr (in Croatian). Slobodna Dalmacija.

External links

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