Goran Ivanisevic
After turning professional in 1988, Ivanisevic made his first significant impact on the tour in 1990, knocking Boris Becker out of the first round of the French Open and going on to reach the quarterfinals.
In 1992, he reached his first Wimbledon singles final, where he beat Stefan Edberg and Pete Sampras before facing Andre Agassi. He lost to Agassi in five sets.
Ivanisevic reached the Wimbledon final for the second time in 1994, where he lost to defending-champion Pete Sampras in straight sets. In July of that year he reached his career-high singles ranking of World No. 2. A few barren years followed before he reached the final for a third time in 1998. Again he faced Sampras, and again he lost, this time in five sets after being in a winning position. The Croatian cut a dejected figure.
By the summer of 2001, he was ranked No.125 and it seemed as though his chance had passed. But, after being awarded a wildcard to enter the tournament, he beat Greg Rusedski, Marat Safin and Tim Henman in an incredible match that took three days because of rain interruptions. He faced Patrick Rafter in a match played in front of thousands of Croatian and Australian fans who had bought tickets on the gate for the special Monday final. After five gruelling, emotionally draining sets, he finally did it. Two months shy of his 30th birthday, Ivanisevic was the lowest-ranked player and the first wildcard entry to win Wimbledon.
It was the last title of his career. He retired from the sport after a third-round loss to Lleyton Hewitt at Wimbledon, leaving the court wearing his beloved Croatian football shirt.
