Goran Answers Your Questions

Q: In your opinion, who is the most talented player you’ve ever played against?

Goran: Federer and McEnroe. I was lucky that I could play both of them. John at his best, he could do whatever he wanted with the ball. He was my idol, he was the guy that I loved most. And Roger, he can close his eyes and play whatever shot he wants, it’s just great to watch him.

Q: Have you any regrets from your playing career?

Goran: I was never No. 1. I was No. 2 twice behind Sampras who is still the best player ever in the history of tennis, so that is not bad. But still that year when I had a chance Sampras won three Grand Slams that year so I didn’t really have any chance. If we had the two ranking systems back then like we have now I would have been No. 1 in 1996 because there was a couple of months when I won five tournaments and did unbelievably. But the only regret I have is that from the 50 finals I played I won less than half so I didn’t have a good percentage in the finals. I was always happy just to win the semis so in the finals I didn’t perform as best I could. So my win-lose percentage in finals was not very good by my standards.

Q: Are you involved in the development of any young players in Croatia?

Goran: They brought me Marin Cilic when he was 13 and a half to see what I thought, and I practiced with him a lot and sent him to Bob Brett and now he is No.24 in the world. He's a great guy and a great player. He can be top ten easily.

Q: Do you think the Tour lacks personalities now? Are players now really encouraged to show their personalities?

Goran: Every generation is changing and every generation has something different. But this is a good rivalry between Federer and Nadal so that’s good for tennis. And there is a good group coming up. Nadal, Federer and Djokovic are the three guys, plus Murray who’s catching slowly. They are a little bit in front.

Q: Ivan Ljubicic and Mario Ancic have taken the headlines in recent years, but now Ivo Karlovic is also a top 20 player. What areas of his game need improvement if he is to make the top ten?

Goran: I told him a couple of years ago when he realised that nobody likes to play him that he is going to be top ten and I think now he finally realises that nobody likes to play against him. When he plays his worst tennis, he loses 7-6, so imagine when he plays his best tennis. He has one of the greatest serves and a great forehand. He has improved his movement a lot but maybe his backhand. He has already improved but maybe he needs to improve it a little bit more to be in the top ten.

Q: If you could change any rule in the game, what would you change?

Goran: I wouldn’t change anything. I think the net cord rule is ok, and having two serves.

Q: What about women’s tennis. Is there anyone out there at the moment that you think is any good?

Goran: To be honest I’m not interested so much in women’s tennis. I loved Justine Henin, but unfortunately she stopped, I don’t know why but she was an unbelievable tennis player. The Williams sisters, when they want to play they are better than everybody now Henin is gone. With their power and everything they are unbelievable. And then there are the two Serbians who are doing great, Jankovic and Ivanovic. Sharapova is injured and then there are a lot of Russians and a lot of Czechs. Most of these girls are from Europe. Apart from the Williams sisters all these top girls are from Europe and European tennis is picking up.

Q: On the ATP Champions Tour we’ve had Pat Rafter return this year. We’ve had Pete Sampras, Stefan Edberg, Michael Chang, Yevgeny Kafelnikov. What is it like now for you to suddenly have your generation on the circuit?

Goran: It’s great. Rafter was in Graz and I told him to play more tournaments. My friendly advice to Yevgeny this week, which he asked for, was to lose another 10 kilos because he’s playing unbelievable tennis and when he loses 10 kilos he’s going to move well and he’s going to be more and more competitive. The Tour is getting better and better. It’s really competitive. You can’t just come and play because you have to practice and really work hard. It’s great to see all these guys and play good matches, I’m really enjoying it.