Australian Open 2005

zariz

Bekanntes Mitglied
in 19-jähriger zypriote... ist als qualifikant gestartet, und im hauptfeld an federer gescheitert... hat so einen tick, spielt sich vorm aufschlag immer den ball zwischen den beinen durch... ach ja... und diesen jungen spanier nadal (?) find ich auch klasse! :spitze:

jackson... was geht? aus?
 

Vatreni

Hrvatska u srcu!
zariz schrieb:
in 19-jähriger zypriote... ist als qualifikant gestartet, und im hauptfeld an federer gescheitert... hat so einen tick, spielt sich vorm aufschlag immer den ball zwischen den beinen durch... ach ja... und diesen jungen spanier nadal (?) find ich auch klasse! :spitze:

jackson... was geht? aus?
Ach so, ja klar, der hat ja Ljubicic rausgeschmissen :schimpf: , jetzt klingelts :idee:
 

zariz

Bekanntes Mitglied
federer ist halt schon ein beisser :zahn: ... egal wer gewinnt... hauptsache dieser hewitt fliegt endlich aus dem turnier :mahnen:
 

Wuschel

Bekanntes Mitglied
zariz schrieb:
federer ist halt schon ein beisser :zahn: ... egal wer gewinnt... hauptsache dieser hewitt fliegt endlich aus dem turnier :mahnen:
Das unterschreib ich einfach mal. Jeder, nur nicht Hewitt. :hammer:

@bluelion: Vielleicht haste deine Wette ja heute schon verloren.... :floet:
 

Vatreni

Hrvatska u srcu!
zariz schrieb:
ljubicic?? sagt mir im moment nix :zucken:
:schmoll2: War letztes Jahr unter den fast immer unter den Top 20 in der Weltrangliste, Bronze-Sieger im Doppel mit Ancic bei Olympia, dieses Jahr im Finale von Doha. Hier eine kleine Biographie:
Ivan Ljubicic was born on March 19, 1979. in Banja Luka. He was second child to his mom Hazira and father Marko. His three year older brother's name is Vladan. A decision to play tennis was made in the family. During the summer school break in 1988. Ivan's dad thought it was time for his sons to start playing some sports. Vladan decided to play football and Ivan decided on tennis. He was influenced by watching Wimbledon on TV. That's how Ivan started practicing and one of his great role models in the beginning was Stefan Edberg.
Ivan began playing in "Mladen Stojanovic" club in Banja Luka under Vojin Sukalo and Fahret Bahtijarevic. As it is with all the beginners, Ivan started practicing with a group of children. He was a fast learner so he managed to cover a relative late start. Soon, he was receiving first private lessons and he won his first tournament in his native town when he was 12. Before that, in 1990., he lost in the finals of BiH championships in Zenica to Mirko Pehar, his tough opponent in the early days of his career.

His first international success came in Belgrade. Ivan won "Rucanor Cup" earning 1.500 DEM. It was his first earnings on the tournaments. He spent it on golden chain which he wore around his neck as a memory.

Escape from Banja Luka

Those successes were good signs for father Marko who had sensed that Ivan could do much in tennis. He didn't have to make Ivan work, Ivan was already "a mini professional." During that time one could already see the problems that have escalated into war less than a year later. In May of 1992., family decided to leave Banja Luka. But not all of them could leave. Marko had to stay behind. Ivan found himself in a bus along with his brother and mum. The bus drove only women and children to the airport where they took the plane for Belgrade. Mum Hazira cried knowing they were leaving for good. Trip to the airport was depressive with crying and several stops on the barricades. Airplane landed in Belgrade around 10 a.m. They had to wait on the bus station whole day waiting for another bus. Ivan and Vladan did what their father told them and stayed by their mother the whole time. Finally, in midnight they went to Slovenia across Hungary. Bus couldn't enter the Slovenia because of the plates. Ljubicic family crossed the border on foot, entered second bus and went towards Ljubljana where they stayed for a week until accommodation was arranged for them in Rijeka, Croatia. After staying in Rijeka for a month, family ended up in Opatija, in "Astoria" hotel along with the rest of the refugees. Ivan didn't complain, he only missed his dad. He was able to play tennis, play doubles with the seniors in Opatija's club and enjoy the sea during the summer. Tennis wasn't a priority so Ivan practiced from time to time with the coach Branko Picula.

Together again

After six months of separation, during which they heard the news about the dad sporadically, family got together in November of 1992. The toughest times were behind them... Family moved from Opatija back to Rijeka where love which lasts until today was born. But family didn't stay together for long. In April of 1993. Ivan accepted the invitation from Carlo Brucciera, the president of Italian club "Le Pleiadi" in Montcalieri near Turin, and along with several other refuge tennis players went to Italy. He spent there next almost three years which were key for his development both as a tennis player and as a human, Ivan says. Before arriving in Turin, Ivan couldn't speak a word of Italian, he didn't get the playing card which would let him play for the club, so the only thing Ivan could do was practice. Six male and two female players lived in the club. Ivan almost never went out during the first several months but spent most of the days on the court practicing. Two of the players soon went to the USA because although the club welcomed all of them, gave them shelter and food they had financial problems. Ivan worked with Mirza Hrnjadovic and Andrea Taragni. In those days of loneliness, Ivan made one important decision. He would play for Croatia. Soon, he won Croatian championships for players of age 16 (the only one he won although he played in 7-8 finals) in Rijeka in 1995. In that same year, he won his first ATP points in Istria. As a first player of Croatian team he won Winter Cup (European championships for players of age 16), and after that he and Zeljko Krajan won unofficial world championships for their age – "Orange Bowl." They defeated Kutanjac / Ancic in Croatian finals.

- It wasn't easy during all those years in my childhood – says Ivan. – I guess it'll have effect on me for the rest of my live. I didn't have many choices when deciding what I wanted to do in life. It turned out great so I can't complain, but there're many players who didn't make it.

Finals of the junior Wimbledon

In 1996. family moved once again from Rijeka to Zagreb. Ivan moved there too and became member of "Mladost" where he was coached by Neven Hodalic. Ivan started having more and more successes on junior ITF tournaments. He wins title in Pratt and after that plays the finals of the junior Wimbledon where he was defeated by Belarus Voltckov. Title on the big junior tournament "Eddie Harre" in Miami just before "Orange Bowl" and semifinal of Australian Open in 1997. along with all of his previous successes raised him to world No. 2. After Rijeka he went to Italy, now after Zagreb Ivan goes to – Italy. In the spring of 1997. Ivan had first contact with Riccardo Piatti. Ivan started working with Piatti who had coached several of the best Italian players like Renzo Furlan, Stefano Pescosolidia, Christian Caratti and Omar Camporese. First "deal" was Ivan and two other Italian players in the team. Ivan was OK with that because Piatti was and still is one of the best Italian tennis experts who had coached all of the best Italian players in the '90s. Piatti started concentrating only on Ivan from October of 1997. He had several good reasons, like challenger in Zagreb...

After forfeiting the match in the quarterfinal of the Junior Roland Garros because he was ill, Ivan came back to Zagreb where he reached the final of the one hundred dollars worth challenger. He lost to Albert Berasategui who was, at the time, 15 th on the entry list. Ivan finished the season on 289 th spot.

Next year, 1998. was tough for Ivan. He played satellites and smaller challengers, won his only satellite in career (in Dalmatia) and ended year as a 293 rd player, but something wasn't working.

- I didn't understand what Riccardo wanted me to do. Until then, I played relaying on my instinct on the court and that worked reasonable well at the time. But Riccardo started teaching me tennis rules that I wasn't even aware existed – says Ivan. – I finished the year ranked worse than the year earlier. I didn't panic. I was disappointed. I knew the problem was in myself.

Break through 1999.

Next year meant breakthrough for Ivan. Series of good results started on two futures in Zageb where he had 10 wins in a row. Before that Ivan played two futures in England where he didn't do good at all. His self-esteem hit the bottom. But series started with Igor Kunjitsin, the Russian who has also been coached by Piatti. The pieces of the puzzle had finally come together and not only in Zagreb, but it continued in Besancon, France where Ivan went next. Ivan would remember France. He won his first title on a challenger in Besancon. He did it from qualifications. That meant he had 18 wins in a row. He added two more in qualifications of ATP tournament in Casablanca. He lost in third round to Juan Carlos Ferrero. Spaniard came to Casablanca from satellite where he had won all four tournaments, and five years later he would become a winner of Roland Garros and No. 1 in the world.
- At that time I wasn't prepared for clay at all, after first match I had cramps – remembers Ivan.

Monte Carlo was his next big stop. Thanks to French Nicolas Escude who didn't show up, Ivan entered in the qualifications of former Super 9 Tournament and now Masters Series Tournament, and defeated Argentinean Calleri and Russian Cerkasov. After entering the main event, Ivan took his first big "scalps." He defeated Andrej Medvedev in the first round and in the second, he demolished Jevgeni Kafeljnikov (6:1 6:2) who would become world No. 1 a week later.

Huge step forward

- Kafelnikov was world No. 2 at the time so I had nothing to loose in that match. Since bonus points still exited at that time, I jumped high after Monte Carlo – says Ivan. – They say the toughest step to make is to enter top 100 after being around 150 th place, and I ended the year as a 77 th player after playing the semifinal in Umag where I lost to Magnus Norman.
Ivan played two semifinals (Sydney and Bastad) and three quarterfinals on the ATP tournaments in 2000. (Marseilles, Copenhagen and Brighton), but his biggest success of the year, in his own opinion, was third round of the Olympic tournament. As it is with the most of the athletes, Olympic games have special meaning for Ivan and he is anxious to play in Athens in 2004.
France again. Not Besancon this time, but not far. Lyon. That is the place where Ivan achieved his greatest result to this time (in tennis of course). He won the title after defeating Gustavo Kuerten, Gaston Gaudi, Marat Safin and in the final, Younes El Aynaoui. Ivan entered top 30 after Lyon – he was 29 th and ended the year on 37 th place after adding four quarterfinals to the title in Lyon (Adelaide, Rotterdam, Miami as a lucky looser, St. Polten, Gstaad, Umag, Cincinnati).
Ivan finished the year 2002. on 49 th place. He was second on the ace count behind Aussie Arthurs. Ivan played two semifinals (Rotterdam, Gstaad) and four quarterfinals (Adelaide, Dubai, Umag, Tashkent) and finally, managed to go past the first round on the Grand Slam. He reached third round of Australian Open where he lost to Wayne Ferreira in the decider after throwing away 2:0 lead.

Toughest defeats and favorite wins

- That one defeat was the toughest – says Ivan. – Defeat by Vince Spadea in Monte Carlo in 2003. is placed second on this list. I had match points in both of these matches. Defeat by Ketola in Helsinki in Davis Cup is third toughest. Three favorite wins are the one over Kafelnikov in Monte Carlo at the beginning of the career. All wins in Lyon in 2001. are placed second and third is the win over Santoro in U.S. Open in 2002. Why? It was simply the best match I've ever played.
Ivan defeated many of the top 10 players (Agassi, Ferrero, Kafelnikov, Safin, Moya, Federer, Ivanisevic...) and has positive score with most of them. But he didn't have a chance and never will to play Pete Sampras, the player who was his biggest role model.
He did something special in Davis Cup. In the February of 2003., he became only the ninth player in history to win all three live rubbers, and he achieved that against USA, the country that has won the cup 31 times. Croatia stayed in the world group for the second year in a row, and Ivan deserved all the credits for that.
- Davis Cup has different atmosphere than ATP tournaments – says Ivan. – If the tennis player is ranked high, Davis Cup sometimes doesn't fit in the schedule. It is a bit strange because Riccardo isn't beside me, it's not bad to take two weeks to play for Croatia in the tough season, and especially when we're successful. I was lucky to be in a good form when we played Americans. You don't depend on yourself in Davis Cup because you play as a team. We made it twice to the quarterfinal with troubled team because Goran Ivanisevic, who is slowly approaching the end of his career, was injured. But Mario Ancic came forward as well as Ivo Karlovic. We have the players who can play on all courts so we're not easy draw even on clay.

Lyon 2001.

One city has special meaning for Ivan. Lyon! Here's Ivan story...

- I played in the final of the Grenoble challenger on a really fast court. We draw for a 100 kilometers after that match and went to Lyon. Draw? Gustavo Kuerten in the first round, Tuesday. I had three practices on Monday which I usually don't do. The last one started at 23:30 after the last match. I somehow "stole" the first set to Gustavo and I destroyed him in the second. Next was French Bennetau. I won 7:5 7:5 on experience. I had to play Gaudio in the quarterfinal and he didn't win a match inside before Lyon so I won relatively easy first set. We fought hard in the second which I lost in tie break. I was so tired in the decider that I looked towards Riccardo and told him I couldn't play anymore. But Gaudio had other plans. He gave me one break and I won the match 6:1 although I was supposed to loose. Saturday, I was facing Marat Safin who defeated me not too long ago in U.S. open after playing four tie breaks. I lost the fifth tie break we've played in a row. Probably because I didn't believe I could win. I held my serve firm in the second set so we had to play sixth consecutive tie break, although Safin had a chance at 6:5. He had 15:30 after hitting backward passing shot through his legs after I tried to lob him. But I managed to pull back as I did after trailing 1:3 in the tie break. I won six straight points in a minute after Safin missed one easy forehand. I took the early lead in the decider going up 3:0, but Safin fought back leveling the score at 4:4. He had 0:40 in the ninth game but my serves pulled me out of that one. Seventh consecutive tie break in two of our matches was on. At 5:5 he served an ace. He charged the net on the match point but I played the backend so low that the ball hit the top of the net. He managed to react and played to my forehand and I passed him with fantastic running forehand. I served a winner and earned a match point. Safin missed the first serve, and on second I played on his backend and he hit the net. Finally in the final! I wanted to play El Aynaoui but Malisse was one set up and had 4:1 lead in the second set, but my wish came true anyway. I was nervous before the match, but once it started, I played like I was in trance. I served great and won relatively easy using his poor backend.

It was Ivan's greatest tennis week. It all started with Guga.

- When we stepped on the court, ten thousand spectators were screaming. It was one of the most beautiful moments in my career. Those are the moments that one plays tennis for.


Bevor du fragst:
Ancic: 20 Jahre alt, ebenfalls Top 20. Letztjähriger Halbfinalist in Wimbledon. :fress:
 
2. Matchbälle für Safin.
Erster schon mal nicht genutzt :schimpf:
Den zweiten auch nicht :hammer:
Wieviel will der denn noch haben :schimpf:

7 beide :frown:
 
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