Magical Mario - the latest Croatian star

Croatia has produced several top talents despite having a population of just 4.5 million.

And this despite Croatian sport having no structure for nurturing talent early
 

Friday, 02 July , 2004, 19:17

London: Wimbledon semi-finalist Mario Ancic is the latest in a long line of sportsmen from the tiny Balkan republic of Croatia to make an impact on the world stage.

Since declaring independence from Yugoslavia in 1992, Croatia has produced several top talents despite having a population of just 4.5 million.
For Croatia to produce tennis stars like Goran Ivanisevic, Iva Majoli, Ivo Karlovic and Karolina Sprem would be achievement enough.
But the republic's football team reached the quarter-finals of the European Championships in 1996 and earned a third place at the 1998 World Cup with players such as Davor Suker, Slaven Bilic and Zvonimir Boban.

Croatia are the world champions at handball while skier Janica Kostelic pulled off the unprecedented feat of winning three gold medals at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

Her brother, Ivica, is the world slalom champion.

Meanwhile, basketballers such as Toni Kukoc, with the Chicago Bulls, and the late Drazan Petrovic, who made his name at the New Jersey Nets, distingushed themselves in America's NBA.

And this despite Croatian sport having no structure for nurturing talent early.
"No system is the best system," jokes Neven Berticevic, a journalist with Croatian sports daily Sportske Novosti. "The truth is that we really do not have a sports system in our country. There is no system in schools or universities, everything is based on clubs in all the sports."

Success in individual persuits has dramatically risen since independence. Team sports were very strong in the old Yugoslavia, with competitive leagues in football, handball and basketball.

Sport funding was distributed centrally, whereas today the emphasis is on individuals finding the money themselves. Stars must make themselves in Croatia. So it helps to have the family on their side. Ivanisevic senior sold the family home when his son was fourteen in order to invest in Goran's talent. When Ivanisevic junior made it as a professional, capping his career with the 2001 Wimbledon title, the family got their house back. "They are not going to have any contracts or any money until they get to the top level of their sports, but it's not big money," said Berticevic.

"That's one of the reasons that of the Croatian team at Euro 2004, only one plays in the domestic league. "If you want to succeed at a higher level and make big bucks, then you have to go abroad. A lot more people leave now." But despite the flight of talent from Croatia once it has reached international level, the fight to have made it stays with their players. "He represented Croatia in so many ways," Ancic said of his mentor Ivanisevic. "You saw here great Croatian performances. I think it's great for a small country that it is going to start developing even more. I think that's good."

http://sify.com/sports/tennis/fullstory.php?id=13512392

Where's Radovan, Carla?

Earlier this month Carla Del Ponte told us that
Karadzic would be in the Hague by June 29. She
repeated it at the UN. So where is he? Her
spokeswoman is now ludicrously claiming that Del
Ponte's comments were distorted. Precisely why this
complaint about distorted comments was not aired
previously has not been revealed. Below, in order,
are the relevant press reports.

Again, when complaining about the Hague, Del Ponte's
misleading comments to the world public should be
aired.

Brian Gallagher


Del Ponte confident on Karadzic arrest | 21:44 June 12
| Reuters
THE HAGUE -- Saturday -- The chief war crimes
prosecutor for the Balkans says she is confident top
Bosnian Serb war crimes fugitive Radovan Karadzic will
be arrested by the end of the month, the Swiss news
agency ATS reported.

"We have good reasons to believe that Radovan Karadzic
will be extradited by June 29," Carla del Ponte told
ATS in Switzerland late on Friday, without
elaborating.

The Bosnian Serb wartime leader has been at large
since 1996, evading a United Nations trial for
genocide for his role in Bosnia's 1992-95 war that
killed 200,000 people.

The Bosnian Serb Republic is under Western pressure
over poor cooperation with the U.N. war crimes court
in The Hague and has pledged to step up efforts to
detain suspects.

It hopes to join NATO's Partnership for Peace
programme for non-members next month.

Expressing discontent with Belgrade's poor
cooperation, Del Ponte said the arrest of Karadzic's
military commander Ratko Mladic depended on the
Serbian authorities.

Del Ponte said she would submit a formal complaint
against Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica to
the UN Security Council by the end of the month,
adding that the tribunal was still missing important
documents needed to continue the inquiry.

Karadzic arrest 'imminent'
Tuesday, June 29, 2004 Posted: 8:13 PM EDT (0013 GMT)


UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- Chief U.N. war crimes
prosecutor for the former Yugoslavia, Carla Del Ponte,
says she is optimistic that former Bosnian Serb leader
Radovan Karadzic will be in custody by the end of the
day Wednesday.

Asked why she thought they would be in custody soon,
Del Ponte said Tuesday, "I cannot tell it now publicly
-- let's obtain the arrest of Karadzic and afterward
we will talk about what we have done, what we have
learned."

For years, Karadzic was said to be at large somewhere
in the Republika Srpska -- the Serb part of
Bosnia-Hercegovina. There has been renewed pressure on
Bosnia to hand over Karadzic.

Aides to Del Ponte say there have been new pressures
placed on Serb officials in Bosnia who were recently
convinced to give fresh evidence on mass graves for a
report on the massacres in Srebrenica in July 1995.

Bosnia also is hoping to join NATO's Partnership for
Peace -- a cooperative defense program with NATO.

At the recent NATO summit in Istanbul, Bosnia was
reminded that it had not lived up to its obligation to
cooperate with the war crimes tribunal -- a condition
for joining NATO's Partnership for Peace.

Del Ponte has been saying in various forums over the
past year that she was hopeful Karadzic would be
arrested by the end of the year, and recently told
journalists she was confident he would be arrested by
the end of June 2004.

The International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia,
and another U.N. Tribunal for War Crimes in Rwanda,
are now under mandate from the U.N. Security Council
to wrap up their work.

While there is no particular deadline for arrests to
be made, investigations must be completed by the end
of 2004 and trials must be completed by the end of
2008.

Del Ponte told the U.N. Security Council Tuesday that
the tribunal was in a "dire budgetary and financial
situation."

She also said the deadlines imposed by the council
meant that "fugitives and their protective networks
are trying to buy time until 2008 in hopes of evading
justice, as they believe the time to be tried in The
Hague will soon expire."

Karadzic is wanted for his role in Bosnia's war -- he
has been twice indicted by the United Nations war
crimes tribunal in The Hague.

Karadzic as well as another top war crimes suspect,
former Bosnian Serb military leader General Ratko
Mladic, are alleged to be directly responsible for the
atrocities committed against the Bosnian Muslim
population in Srebrenica.

Both Karadzic and Mladic are also charged with
genocide and crimes against humanity for crimes
perpetrated against the civilian population throughout
Bosnia-and-Herzegovina, for the sniping campaign
against civilians in Sarajevo, and for the taking of
U.N.-peacekeepers as hostages and their use as human
shields.

Del Ponte says there are a total of 20 fugitives from
the war crimes tribunal including Karadzic, and 15 of
the fugitives are thought to be in Serbia and
Montenegro.

Next year will mark the 10th year that both Karadzic
and Mladic have been on the run from the court.

Del Ponte told the council, "How long will it be
tolerated that these leaders escape justice? How long
will it be tolerated that they make a parody of both
justice and the repeated commitment of the Security
Council to have them arrested and tried?"



The Associated Press
Wednesday, June 30, 2004

Karadzic eludes U.N. war crimes tribunal

By ANTHONY DEUTSCH
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

THE HAGUE, Netherlands, June 30 (AP) --
Serbia-Montenegro's president
said Wednesday his country is ready to extradite
fugitives to the U.N. war crimes tribunal for the Balkans, and the top
international administrator for Bosnia fired dozens of officials
believed to be hampering the court's work.

The key developments for the U.N. court in the Hague came as its
most-wanted suspect, Radovan Karadzic, was still at large, despite
predictions by Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte that
his arrest would happen before the end of June.
Karadzic, the Bosnian Serb leader during the wars of
the 1990s that broke apart Yugoslavia, has eluded justice for nearly nine years.

The tribunal has stepped up pressure on Serbian leaders in recent
months by reporting their failure to cooperate withthe court
to the U.N. Security Council, which can impose economic sanctions.

Also, the change of position by Serbia-Montenegro came after the weekend
election of a pro-Western leader in Serbia, the dominant country in the
two-republic union that replaced Yugoslavia. Reformer
Boris Tadic won in a runoff poll against a hard-line nationalist ally
of former autocrat Slobodan Milosevic, who fueled ethnic wars in Croatia,
Bosnia-Herzegovina and the southern Serbian province of Kosovo.

Karadzic was indicted for genocide in 1995 - along
with his top general, Ratko Mladic - for the massacre of thousands of
Bosnian Muslims from the Bosnian enclave of Srebrenica. They are among 20
fugitives still sought by the tribunal for crimes allegedly committed during
the Balkan wars.

Comments by Del Ponte on Tuesday in New York, after
she addressed the U.N. Security Council, had left the impression that
Karadzic's hand-over was imminent. Some media even reported he had been
caught.

Asked about Karadzic's arrest, Del Ponte had said: "Of course I have
(information). But you all understand that I cannot tell it now publicly.
Let's obtain the arrest of Karadzic, and after we will speak about
what we have done."

Responding to a question about her earlier comment that Karadzic would
be arrested before June 30, he said: "I'm still expecting (it), yes. But let's see."

But the following day her spokeswoman, Florence Hartmann, sought
to tone down the prosecutor's comments, which she said had been
"completely twisted" out of context.

"She expects, she hopes, and we will not give up,"
Hartmann said. "Just when it will be, we don't know."

Karadzic has eluded a massive manhunt, escaping
regular raids by NATO peacekeepers at the homes of his family, his
former political headquarters, and businesses of his former associates.

Some believe he has long fled the Balkans, possibly to
Russia, where Milosevic's wife, Mira Markovic - also a war crimes
fugitive - is believed to be hiding.

Del Ponte's optimistic comments may have been provoked by the pending
dismissals of 60 Bosnian Serb officials that Bosnia-Herzegovina's
international administrator, Paddy Ashdown, announced Wednesday.

Among those fired for stonewalling Karadzic's capture
were Bosnian Serb Parliament Speaker Dragan Kalinic and Zoran Djeric,
the interior minister in charge of police in the Serb half of Bosnia.

Others dismissed were senior politicians of the party
founded by Karadzic, along with lower party officials, heads of
state companies and some local police chiefs.

Ashdown said the dismissals were part of a 10-point
package "designed to reduce the influence of those who ... obstruct this
country's progress toward stability and the rule of law."
 

Magical Mario sparks Croatian revolution

LONDON : Wimbledon semi-finalist Mario Ancic is the latest in a long line of sportsmen from the tiny Balkan republic of Croatia to make an impact on the world stage. Since declaring independence from Yugoslavia in 1992, Croatia has produced several top talents despite having a population of just 4.5 million.
For Croatia to produce tennis stars like Goran Ivanisevic, Iva Majoli, Ivo Karlovic and Karolina Sprem would be achievement enough.
But the republic's football team reached the quarter-finals of the European Championships in 1996 and third place at the 1998 World Cup with players such as Davor Suker, Slaven Bilic and Zvonimir Boban.
Croatia are the world champions at handball while skier Janica Kostelic pulled off the unprecedented feat of winning three gold medals at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
Her brother, Ivica, is the world slalom champion.
Meanwhile, basketballers such as Toni Kukoc, with the Chicago Bulls, and the late Drazan Petrovic, who made his name at the New Jersey Nets, distingushed themselves in America's NBA.
And this despite Croatian sport having no structure for nurturing talent early.
"No system is the best system," jokes Neven Berticevic, a journalist with Croatian sports daily Sportske Novosti.
"The truth is that we really do not have a sports system in our country. There is no system in schools or universities, everything is based on clubs in all the sports."
Success in individual persuits has dramatically risen since independence. Team sports were very strong in the old Yugoslavia, with competitive leagues in football, handball and basketball.
Sport funding was distributed centrally, whereas today the emphasis is on individuals finding the money themselves.
Stars must make themselves in Croatia.
So it helps to have the family onside.
Ivanisevic senior sold the family home when his son was fourteen in order to invest in Goran's talent.
When Ivanisevic junior made it as a professional, capping his career with the 2001 Wimbledon title, the family got their house back.
"They are not going to have any contracts or any money until they get to the top level of their sports, but it's not big money," said Berticevic.
"That's one of the reasons that of the Croatian team at Euro 2004, only one plays in the domestic league.
"If you want to succeed at a higher level and make big bucks, then you have to go abroad. A lot more people leave now."
But despite the flight of talent from Croatia once it has reached international level, the fight to have made it stays with their players.
"He represented Croatia in so many ways," Ancic said of his mentor Ivanisevic.
"You saw here great Croatian performances. I think it's great for a small country that it is going to start developing even more. I think that's good."

- AFP

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_sports/view/93576/1/.html

Serb women jailed in Croatia for war crime

Big News Network.com Friday 2nd July, 2004

A Croatian court has sentenced a Serbian woman to 10 years in jail for killing civilians in the wars of the 1990s, the Jutarnji List newspaper said Friday.

Zorana Banic was convicted of helping to kill four civilians including an elderly woman in late 1991. She had been charged with the murder of 34 civilians but there was insufficient evidence to link her to the deaths of all of them.

Banic, 52, is a former nurse. Her conviction was partly based on evidence from a group of children who had witnessed the killings which took place in the village of Skabrnje in November 1991.

She has said she will appeal the verdict.

Banic had fled Croatia to escape the charges against her but was apprehended in Switzerland and extradited.

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=d0105889a2fbff16
 

Karizmaticni tenor u pulskoj Areni
26.06.2004

OPERA Karizmaticni tenor u pulskoj Areni
Oprašta li se doista veliki Luciano od pjevanja?
Autor Denis Derk

Tata Fernando bio mu je pekar i amaterski pjevac, omiljeni tenor. Pjevao je u lokalnom zboru i svog jedinog sina Luciana zarazio glazbom punom melodije i strasti, premda je mali Luciano u ranoj mladosti više volio sport. Prvi uspjeh doživio je baš kao sportaš, igrajuci nogomet. No, glazba je bila jaca. Na srecu.
Luciano je postao najveca operna zvijezda današnjice. Njegovo pjevanje oduvijek je bilo stresno za konkurenciju. Luciano je pjevao bez napora, prirodno. Njegov ton bio je nenadmašan, topao, kao stvoren za lirske uloge kojima obiluje talijanska opera. Iz godine u godinu rastao je kult Luciana Pavarottija. Pavarotti je tako postao zaštitni znak opere i Italije.

No, vremešni umjetnik, roden 1935. godine u Modeni, polako se poceo opraštati od scene. Uostalom, posljednjih godina više je gostovao na stranicama ženskih casopisa zbog veze i braka s trideset i pet godina mladom, bivšom tajnicom Nicolettom Mantovani nego što je bio predmetom umjetnickih kritika i prosudivanja. Pa ipak, mit o Pavarottiju, najpopularnijem opernom tenoru ne slabi.

Kad je poceo dugotrajnu oproštajnu turneju, za svijet nije bilo dileme. Najbitnije je doci na oproštajne koncerte velikog Pavarottija. Tako je ulaznica za oproštajni koncert u Kostariki stajala punih 1200 dolara. Onda nije cudno što je i pulski koncert najavljen za 3. srpnja rasprodan na brzinu.

U Metropolitanu je 3800 ljudi, stojeci, poslušalo kraj opere Tosca, kojom se Pavarotti ovog ožujka oprostio od najpoznatije i najprestižnije americke operne pozornice. U Metu je Pavarotti božanstvo. Na toj je pozornici nastupao od 1968. godine i imao cak 373 nastupa!

Posljednji operni nastup želi imati na sedamdeseti rodendan, 12. listopada 2005. godine.

Premda je Placido Domingo otpjevao puno više uloga i premda je Jose Carreras plijenio rijetkom srcanošcu - Pavarotti je, jednostavno, Pavarotti. Velicina u jednostavnosti.

Bosna mu vjerojatno nikada nece zaboraviti koncert u Modeni, u parku Novi Sad za djecu stradalu u ratu. Pavarotti je sa svojim prijateljima (medu njima se jednom našao i Nenad Bach) pjevao i za djecu Iraka, Gvatemale, gladne i bolesne Afrike. U Mostaru je otvorio muzicki centar u cijem se studiju danas snimaju ponajbolji etnoalbumi Balkana. Pavarotti je osobno došao na otvorenje mostarskog centra u kojem su vrata bila otvorena djeci svih nacija i svjetonazora. Premda su skeptici govoreci o tom mostarskom centru na istocnoj obali Neretve spominjali i pranje novca, korpulentni se tenor na to nije obazirao. Nastupi triju zlatnih tenora po Njemackoj, njihova su menadžera zbog neplacena poreza stajali cak i zatvora. Pa ipak, nema afere koja je imalo okrznula Pavarottijevu karizmu umjetnika i humanista. Cak mu je i Italija zaljubljena u obitelj oprostila razvod od supruge Adue nakon 36 godina braka. Nedavno je Pavarotti snimio i prvu plocu s pop glazbom pod naslovom Obožavam te. Ocito ga brak s mladahnom Nicolettom s kojom ima kci Alice inspirira za nastavak glazbene karijere. Doduše, iz ozbiljnog svijeta opere u kojem nema opraštanja ni gledanja kroz prste, veliki ce maestro sigurno cešce prelaziti u lakše glazbene forme. No, legendu o bogomdanom glasu ništa nece zasjeniti, cak niti njemacki šlageri.

http://www.vecernji-list.hr/newsroom/culture/27988/index.do 
 

NAJBOLJE OD NAS

Glazbene zvijezde na humanitarnom spektaklu u Umagu
 

Jadranka Kosor pjeva samo s Tonijem Cetinskim u duetu
Autor Emina BASARA
02.07.2004

ZAGREB Sve je spremno za veliki humanitarni glazbeni spektakl u Umagu Najbolje od nas, kojim ce se pomoci 400 hrvatskih obitelji s osmero i više djece, porucili su pokroviteljica akcije Jadranka Kosor i glavna zvijezda koncerta Toni Cetinski. Na središnjem terenu ATP-a u Umagu 16. srpnja uz Tonija ce zapjevati Nina Badric, Radojka Šverko, grupa Divas, Giuliano, Nenad Bach, klape i makedonska zvijezda Toše Proeski.
Nadam se da ce akcija i koncert postati tradicija i da cemo uskoro stici i do Rovinja kazao je Toni nestrpljivo otvarajuci promotivne plakate. Dodao je kako se nada da ce na koncertu zapjevati i ministrica Kosor, koja je u šali dodala da ce zapjevati samo s njim u duetu.

U sklopu akcije najbrojnije hrvatske obitelji dobit ce racunala, a u sljedece tri godine uz pomoc tvrtke Hewlett-Packard planira se darovati i 1200 racunala obiteljima s manje od osmero djece.

http://www.vecernji-list.hr/freetime/lifestyle/scene/34207/index.do
 

Group 100 Official News Release
July 2, 2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Group 100 Is Now In The Crucial Planning Phase
And Is Moving Strategically On All Fronts

The board members of Group 100 are now in place and in process of developing by-laws, procedures, and other vital aspects of internal structure and communication. As an organizational group we will lead by example, by law, and through one voice in order to build trust and confidence in our leadership throughout the Croatian world community.

This is a strategic and vital part of our building phase, creating and establishing our constitutional and ethical foundation as a platform to build on our future and Croatia's future. We must and will take the adequate time needed to accomplish our goals. The next phase is that we are working in tandem to develop an effective communication and security network throughout the organization system around the globe. We are moving forward on all of these fronts and are continuing the robust and visionary momentum that we have established.

The board of Group 100 is giving it's solemn promise to uphold the free enterprise system that will be in place with all proper checks and balances. We owe a great debt of gratitude to all attendees and participants of our recent symposium and also to those that weren't able to attend but that share in the vision and passion for Croatia's society, culture, and economic future. The overwhelming turn out and positive comments is a testament and great tribute to the events' success. On June 28th was a new beginning for Croatia's economic future. Keeping together is the progress and commitment we must all make, and working together will be our success and reward, and in order to accomplish that, we need to remove the word "I" from our lexicon and substitute it with "we".


Media Contact:
- Martin Puljic
VP Public Relations, Group 100
mpuljic@alltel.net
440.338.6536

Favourites forever

This year’s Wimbledon will occupy a special place in the hearts of tennis fans. The legendary Martina Navratilova returned to singles after 10 long years and the flamboyant Goran Ivanisevic bade goodbye to the game in his inimitable style, writes Rubinder Gill.

Martina Navratilova waves after winning her first-round match at Wimbledon.

Goran Ivanisevic, wearing a Croatian football shirt, makes his last stand on Centre Court. — AFP/ Reuters photos
The Wimbledon Championship this year will primarily be remembered for two reasons. The return of 47-year-old Martina Navratilova to singles at her beloved championship after 10 years and crowd favourite Goran Ivanisevic bidding goodbye to his favourite tournament in his trademark style.

Navratilova, after her French Open first round exit, showed all that she still had traces of the talent and style that netted her nine singles titles here. Nearing the half-century mark, she still served and volleyed with aplomb. Competing with players less than half her age made no difference to the legend.

She may not have been able to go beyond the second round but she has set precedents which will be tough to follow for others. Navratilova made her debut at Wimbledon in 1973. That she was still competing at the top level after 31 years is beyond comparison.

The maverick Croat Ivanisevic endured pain to come back to the tournament where he has experienced intense ecstasy and agony.

The agony years were 1992, 1994 and 1998. He invariably came off second best to Americans Andre Agassi (1992) and Pete Sampras (1994, 98).

Ecstasy came in 2001. After famously having made a pact with God (that if he won the title he would not mind if he never played again), he triumphed in a five-setter against Pat Rafter. That he was able to take the centre stage was due to the benevolence of the organisers, who gave him a wild card.

After a magical two weeks, he wrote his name on the prized trophy, the first wild card in the history of the championship to do so. In the process, the fans and the champion came across the third Goran. After the good Goran and the bad Goran came the level-headed Goran who would try to keep peace between the two warring Gorans.

The split personality from the town of Split in Croatia later said God had heard him too well. Ivanisevic could not return to defend his title, injuries took over. It was time for him to keep his side of the pact.

The popular champion returned this year, courtesy the organisers, who gave him a wild card again. He did not disappoint the faithful. He recreated the magic initially again, stealing the limelight from the defending champion Roger Federer.

He bid goodbye on his favourite Centre Court, bowing out to a younger and fitter Lleyton Hewitt.

The Croat went out in his own style as he knew his time was up. He donned a Croatian football shirt, waving to all corners of the court. He had fulfilled his wish of returning to the Centre Court once again.

The tennis world will miss the entertainer, who once broke so many rackets during a match that he had to forfeit the tie. He will be remembered as much for his booming serve and sublime skills as his antics on the court, his scowl and the ready smile.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2004/20040703/spr-trib.htm
 

Majoli retires at 26

Tue 29 June, 2004 15:51

ZAGREB, June 29 (Reuters) - Croatia's Iva Majoli, the 1997 French Open champion, announced her retirement from competitive tennis on Tuesday saying she lacked motivation.

"There may be some exhibition matches or doubles, but my career is over," the 26-year-old Majoli told sports gazette Sportske Novosti.

"I have fallen too low," she said. "I am practically back at the beginning and would have to work like a maniac to get back to the top. I realised I was not ready for that."

Majoli, who beat Swiss Martina Hingis in the 1997 Roland Garros final, was once rated as high as number four but has seen her world ranking plummet to 294.

The winner of eight career WTA Tour titles, including the French Open, Majoli was not at Wimbledon this year having slipped too far in the rankings and she did not try to qualify.

Majoli has played only five matches since Wimbledon 2003 and lost four of them.

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=tennisNews&storyID=5543075&section=news

Henman warned about Ancic Jun 29 2004

Tim Henman launches his bid to reach the Wimbledon semi-final for the fifth time on Wednesday with the support of two of the game's legends.

But both John McEnroe and Boris Becker warned the British number one not to underestimate unseeded Mario Ancic of Croatia.

Henman and his 20-year-old opponent have never played each other before but 6ft 5ins Ancic, a tennis disciple of Goran Ivanisevic, is recognised as one of the most dangerous floaters in the draw on a surface which suits his big-serving game.

He has the scalp of reigning champion Roger Federer, who he beat in the first round two years ago, to prove it.

"Tim is playing much better when he's not supposed to win easily," said Becker. "He does not have the game to blow away opponents so he has to find a way to win the points but he has proved in the past that he has the ability to beat Federer and Roddick.

"Yes, he has the weapons. His problem is to get to the semi-final without losing too much energy. He always struggles when he is supposed to win easily."

McEnroe also added his warning, not that it will lower the expectations of a Centre Court crowd who are beginning to believe that this really could be the year when Henman ends the 68-year wait for a British men's singles champion following his thrilling fourth-round triumph against Mark Philippoussis.

"In his first three matches he did not play up to his capabilities," said McEnroe, speaking at an event launching the Stanford Financial Champions Tour Rankings.

"I think he did against Philippoussis. It would have been nicer to win it easier but then it would not be Tim Henman. It always seems to be a rollercoaster.

"Henman could be a programmer for the BBC. The ratings must be very good. But Ancic is very dangerous. He beat Federer here two years ago. I would pick Tim to win but he's got to be ready. Ancic is dangerous."

http://icteesside.icnetwork.co.uk/0200sport/sportlatest/tm_objectid=14377638&method=full&siteid=50081&headline=henman-warned-about-ancic-name_page.html