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(E) Ivanisevic to bury his racket after Wimbledon
http://www.croatia.org/crown/articles/7956/1/E-Ivanisevic-to-bury-his-racket-after-Wimbledon.html
By Nenad N. Bach
Published on 05/24/2004
 

 

Ivanisevic to bury his racket after Wimbledon

 

 

May 24 2004


Zagreb, Croatia - Former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic plans to retire at the All England club where he won the only Grand Slam title of his 15 years on the circuit.

"I've been thinking about it for the last two years," the 32-year-old said in the daily Sportske Novosti on Monday. "It's not easy to admit, but time trickles by and one day you have to draw the line and say enough."

Ivanisevic underwent shoulder surgery after he beat Australia's Pat Rafter in the 2001 Wimbledon final, and a series of injuries kept him from making a much-anticipated comeback to his favourite tournament."Wimbledon is something else. Two worlds, Wimbledon and the rest," he said. 'I'm always dangerous there' "It's the biggest for any player. There is no better way to bow out. Hopefully I'll play on centre court and win a few rounds."
Although he has dropped below 400 in the rankings and his left shoulder continues to cause unbearable sporadic pain, Ivanisevic still believes in miracles, much like in 2001, when he was 125th in the world and used a wild-card entry at Wimbledon to stun sceptics and take the title.
"It won't be easy in Wimbledon, but it won't be easy for my opponents either," Ivanisevic said. "I'm always dangerous there. After all, I won when nobody would have put a cent on me."
Ivanisevic, who has won 22 titles and is three short of 600 tournament victories, has already pulled out of the French Open and will warm up for Wimbledon only at the Queens tournament.
The 1,93m crowd-pleaser, who will be remembered for his honest, humorous interviews and on-court-antics, would like to go out in a big way.'An ace. One more ace. The last one' Ivanisevic initially thought about going out on centre court, serving a trademark ace and then simply walking off into the annals of history.

"An ace. One more ace. The last one," he said.
"But no. I couldn't do that, not to Wimbledon. It is too big a tournament and I don't deserve to leave like that."Any regrets? "I've done everything, everything I could. Yes, I am at peace." - Sapa-AP

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=4&art_id=qw1085399461414B235&set_id=6

 


(E) Ivanisevic to bury his racket after Wimbledon

 

Ivanisevic to bury his racket after Wimbledon

 

 

May 24 2004


Zagreb, Croatia - Former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic plans to retire at the All England club where he won the only Grand Slam title of his 15 years on the circuit.

"I've been thinking about it for the last two years," the 32-year-old said in the daily Sportske Novosti on Monday. "It's not easy to admit, but time trickles by and one day you have to draw the line and say enough."

Ivanisevic underwent shoulder surgery after he beat Australia's Pat Rafter in the 2001 Wimbledon final, and a series of injuries kept him from making a much-anticipated comeback to his favourite tournament."Wimbledon is something else. Two worlds, Wimbledon and the rest," he said. 'I'm always dangerous there' "It's the biggest for any player. There is no better way to bow out. Hopefully I'll play on centre court and win a few rounds."
Although he has dropped below 400 in the rankings and his left shoulder continues to cause unbearable sporadic pain, Ivanisevic still believes in miracles, much like in 2001, when he was 125th in the world and used a wild-card entry at Wimbledon to stun sceptics and take the title.
"It won't be easy in Wimbledon, but it won't be easy for my opponents either," Ivanisevic said. "I'm always dangerous there. After all, I won when nobody would have put a cent on me."
Ivanisevic, who has won 22 titles and is three short of 600 tournament victories, has already pulled out of the French Open and will warm up for Wimbledon only at the Queens tournament.
The 1,93m crowd-pleaser, who will be remembered for his honest, humorous interviews and on-court-antics, would like to go out in a big way.'An ace. One more ace. The last one' Ivanisevic initially thought about going out on centre court, serving a trademark ace and then simply walking off into the annals of history.

"An ace. One more ace. The last one," he said.
"But no. I couldn't do that, not to Wimbledon. It is too big a tournament and I don't deserve to leave like that."Any regrets? "I've done everything, everything I could. Yes, I am at peace." - Sapa-AP

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=4&art_id=qw1085399461414B235&set_id=6