Goran & MacDonalds
25 May 2002
Keep an eye on your screens! The Goran MacDonalds ad is airing now in the UK.
Ivanisevic looking for wild cards to win World Cup
23 May 2002
ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) The first wild-card entrant to win Wimbledon, Croatian tennis ace Goran Ivanisevic is placing his money on an outsider to win soccer's World Cup too.
"The World Cup will be won by a non-favorite this time," Ivanisevic, who is convalescing from a shoulder operation in his home town of Split on the Adriatic coast, told the daily Sportske Novosti on Thursday.
"I don't think France will repeat their success. I think we could do well again or maybe Portugal or even Cameroon," the lanky Croat said. "I wouldn't wage more than 500 euros (dlrs 450) though."
Tradition is not on Ivanisevic's side. Only seven teams have won the World Cup in its 72-year history, with powerhouses Brazil (4), Italy (3), Germany (3) and Argentina (2) taking 12 of the 16 titles. Uruguay has won two, and France and England one each.
Commenting on his shoulder, the 31-year-old Ivanisevic said that he had never felt so useless in his life.
"All my life I have never relied on anyone. Now I can't even go to the toilet without assistance," the strong-serving Croat joked. "This is a new beginning now, but I certainly won't quit in my comeback to the tennis courts."
Ivanisevic, who stunned the world by becoming the first wild-card player to win Wimbledon in a dramatic final against Australian Patrick Rafter last year, underwent surgery on his left rotator cuff in a clinic in Heidelberg, Germany, last week. His rehabilitation is expected to last another 12 weeks before he can swing his racket with full force.
"I didn't undergo surgery because of the pain. I underwent surgery because I wanted to play tennis as long as it continues to provide me with such great pleasure.
"Luckily, the World Cup is on and I can rest in front of the television screen," he added.
Goran hopes to start training soon
23 May 2002
Zagreb - Croatia's Wimbledon men's singles champion Goran Ivanisevic voiced hope that he would start training again in August - if he successfully recovers from shoulder surgery undergone a week ago, local media reported on Thursday.
"I hope that I will start training by the end of August, but I will not rush with it since I do not want to jeopardise my recovery with some wrong moves," Ivanisevic told Jutarnji List daily.
Ivanisevic returned on Wednesday to his hometown of Split from Germany where he underwent the operation.
"Right now I cannot even walk a lot," the 30-year-old said.
"I feel helpless. Never I my whole life I felt so dependent on others," he complained, while stressing he would do "everything to play again."
Ivanisevic last year became the first wildcard to win a Grand Slam when he beat Australia's Pat Rafter after three final losses at the All England Club.
He said that this year he would probably go to watch the matches in Wimbledon, where he has a guest invitation.
Ivanisevic said that his two main wishes were to recover and for Croatia to make the second phase of the 2002 Soccer World Cup.
Ivanisevic added he did not believe that France would again win the title.
"Someone who is not a favourite might win the World Cup," he said.
Croatia, who reached the semi-finals in 1998, is in Group G along with Italy, Ecuador and Mexico.
-Sapa-AFP
Source: news24.com
Ivanisevic op successful
17 May 2002
Goran Ivanisevic will be able to continue his tennis career after undergoing successful surgery on his injured shoulder.
He underwent a two-hour operation at a German clinic on Thursday.
Doctor Peter Heuberger, who operated on the rotation bone in Ivanisevic's left shoulder, was quoted in Croatian daily newspaper Slobodna Dalmacija as saying: ''We are 100 per cent certain that Ivanisevic will be able to continue his tennis career."
The injury to has stopped Ivanisevic from defending his Wimbledon title, but he is convinced he will be able to return to the All England Club next year.
He is eager to be "back on the courts at the end of this year, even if it is only in a Challenger tournament".
Source: ananova.com
Ivanisevic Not Considering Retirement
14 May 2002
MONTE CARLO, Monaco (AP) - Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic isn't considering retirement from tennis despite the upcoming shoulder surgery that will force him to skip the Grand Slam tournament.
"I was supposed to open at Wimbledon on Monday (June 24) at 1 o'clock, and I can't finish my career this way," Ivanisevic said Tuesday. "I think I've got another two years."
The 30-year-old Croat is to undergo surgery to his left shoulder on Thursday, sidelining him for the rest of the year. Wimbledon runs June 24-July 7.
Ivanisevic will be the first Wimbledon men's champion not to return to defend his title since Stan Smith in 1973. Smith stayed away because of a player boycott. Traditionally, the men's titleholder opens play on the first Monday of the tournament.
"I think I am capable of coming back," Ivanisevic said. "It would be nice to come back to play Wimbledon. That's my goal."
Ivanisevic, who has had shoulder problems for several years, will undergo rotator cuff surgery in Heidelberg, Germany.
He was in Monaco to attend the Laureus Awards, sometimes called the "Oscars of Sport," for which he is nominated in the World Comeback of the Year category.
Last year, Ivanisevic became the first wild-card entry to win a Grand Slam singles title by winning at Wimbledon, where he was runner-up three times previously.
The Croat also said he expected Britain's Tim Henman to come under huge pressure at Wimbledon in the year of the Queen's Golden Jubilee, marking her 50 years on the throne.
"There's going to be a lot of pressure on Tim since it's the 50 years anniversary for the Queen celebrating the crown," said Ivanisevic, who beat Henman in the semis at Wimbledon last year. "I wouldn't like to be in his skin."
Ivanisevic said seven-time champion Pete Sampras also is a contender for the Wimbledon crown despite a two-year title drought.
"Pete isn't playing very well at the moment, but I still think he will be very dangerous," Ivanisevic said. "And I think he can do it again."
Source: yahoo.com
Ivanisevic aims for Wimbledon 2003
14 May 2002
MONACO (Reuters) - Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic is determined to return to competitive tennis after a shoulder operation and regain his title next year.
The Croatian is due to undergo surgery on his shoulder on Thursday, meaning he will miss this year's tournament at the All England Club in June.
"It's another challenge to come back but it will be at least six months," Ivanisevic told reporters at the Laureus Sports Awards on Tuesday.
"My goal is to come back and next year to play Wimbledon.
"I cannot finish my career in this way. I'm capable of doing that, I have another two years in me," he said.
Ivanisevic is nominated among the comebacks of the year at the Laureus Awards, seen as the Oscars of the sporting industry, after entering last year's Wimbledon with a triple-figure world ranking and becoming the first man to win a Grand Slam tournament as a wild card.
Ivanisevic said the decision to have surgery on his shoulder, which has troubled him for over a year, was not an easy one.
"I took days off and I thought it would be ok. It was not an easy decision but it was the best and only decision," he said.
The Croatian said he had been invited to attend Wimbledon as a guest this year.
Source: reuters.co.uk
Ivanisevic sets sights on Wimbledon return
9 May 2002
Goran Ivanisevic is confident he will retain his Wimbledon men's title in 2003.
The current Wimbledon champion will miss out on the chance of defending his title this year as he faces five months on the sidelines after having shoulder surgery.
But his absence this year will spur him on even further to victory in 2003.
"That's my biggest wish," Ivanisevic said in an interview with the Sportske Novosti daily.
"I'll return as the champion - well, I know that someone else will be defending the title in 2003, but in my head I'll be the defending champion. And I'll try to win it again."
He said he "owed" it to himself, to his country and the All England Club, which gave him the wild card last year.
The left-hander Ivanisevic, ranked 16th in the world, decided to undergo surgery on the serving shoulder that has been bothering him for years.
He said: "I realised my shoulder really is in a bad shape and there was no sense in delaying the surgery anymore.
"Imagine me going to Wimbledon and then my shoulder blocks me there - I'd kill myself!"
Source: ananova.com
Ivanisevic plans new comeback
8 May 2002
ZAGREB (Reuters) - Goran Ivanisevic is slowly coming to terms with the reality of missing defending his Wimbledon title and he is already contemplating another spectacular comeback.
The 30-year-old says he will undergo surgery on his left shoulder in Germany next week, as the pain he had been fighting for more than a year had worsened beyond endurance in recent months.
"Everything is agreed, there is no point in delaying it further," the big-serving left-hander told Slobodna Dalmacija daily newspaper on Tuesday, based in his native Adriatic city of Split.
After surgery in Heidelberg, Ivanisevic will enjoy the status of "protected ranking", meaning he would be allowed to miss the first nine tournaments after the operation and keep his last ATP ranking unchanged.
"I know I could just as easily get invited to tournaments (after the surgery), but why should I be begging for invitations. This way I can skip nine tournaments before starting to regain my position," he said.
"Then I plan to be a candidate for the comeback of the year," he said.
This is what he did in 2001, when he entered Wimbledon with an injured shoulder and a triple-figure world ranking and became the first man to win a Grand Slam tournament as a wild card.
Source: reuters.co.uk
Ivanisevic's withdrawal a blow for Wimbledon says Sampras
7 May 2002
By Eleanor Preston ROME (Reuters) - Goran Ivanisevic's Wimbledon rivals have offered the Croatian their sympathy following the defending champion's decision to pull out of this year's tournament after opting for shoulder surgery.
Ivanisevic, who stormed to a fairytale victory last year as the first wildcard to win a grand slam event, withdrew from the tournament in order to undergo surgery to repair a tear in his left shoulder.
Seven-time Wimbledon champion Pete Sampras, who was knocked out of the Rome Masters Series event in the first round on Tuesday, said the big-serving Croat's withdrawal was a "big blow to the tournament".
"It's disappointing for him and for the event," said Sampras. "It's always an honour to go out at two o'clock on the first Monday. That's one of the few benefits you get for winning the tournament.
"I'm sure he's disappointed. It was such a great story, what happened last year, Goran finally doing it."
Ivanisevic lost the Wimbledon final three times, twice to Sampras, before beating Australia's Pat Rafter in a five-set thriller last July.
Sampras supported Ivanisevic's decision to opt for the surgery rather than risk further injury.
"I think he made the right decision because I hear his shoulder is pretty bad and you've got to take care of your health before anything." Britain's Tim Henman, who Ivanisevic beat in a rain delayed three-day semifinal on his way to the 2001 title, also said he was disappointed he would not to see him there again this year.
"I think it's really disappointing and it's really sad for him," said Henman. "It was such an incredible story last year and he talked so much about wanting to have the opportunity to open proceedings."
Source: reuters.co.uk
Ivanisevic's ace machine needs serious repair
7 May 2002
By Ossian Shine
LONDON (Reuters) - Goran Ivanisevic's left shoulder, the ace-firing machine behind last year's remarkable Wimbledon triumph, has finally broken down after years of punishing serving.
The big-serving Croat's hopes of defending his title in June have been shattered as he prepares for surgery later this week.
"I wanted so much to play that opening match on Monday at Wimbledon on Centre Court," Ivanisevic said in a statement on Tuesday. "I am very disappointed but I have no choice."
Last year, with eye's glistening and trembling in the wake of his Wimbledon victory after a wildcard entry, the engaging giant vowed that wild horses would not prevent him from defending his grasscourt crown.
But even a staple diet of painkillers and physiotherapy have proved insufficient and he has been forced to admit defeat and submit to surgery.
One of the most remarkable comeback stories in the history of tennis is left with a flat finish.
SEASONED WARHORSE
Three times a losing Wimbledon finalist, Ivanisevic's belief in destiny carried him all the way to a surreal lunchtime final on the third Monday in 2001 where he buried all his ghosts and re-wrote tennis history with a thrilling five-set victory over Pat Rafter.
The fact he was even in the draw at all had not been thanks to his once-formidable serve but by virtue of a begging letter to organisers.
Fourteen days later the Croat lay face down, trembling on the sport's most famous turf, sobbing and blinking through tears after a magical fortnight had seen him turn that wildcard invitation into life membership of the famous club.
A runner-up to Andre Agassi in 1992 and to Pete Sampras in 1994 and 1998, Ivanisevic had said from the start that it was his destiny to land the world's most prestigious tennis title.
"When they opened the gates on Monday, something was shining, something special happened," he said.
UNDERGOES SURGERY
"I kept asking God to give me one more chance," the Catholic added. "I think he was so sick of me asking him all the time he said 'okay, here is one last chance let's see if you can win it this time'."
But Ivanisevic's pact with God appears to be over. It seems he was given, in his own words, "one more chance".
His shoulder is now too painful to allow him to serve and he undergoes surgery to repair a tear next week in the German city of Heidelberg.
Although he says he hopes to be fit for the start of next year, he will by then be 31 and, by his own admission, may struggle to rebuild his career.
Unable to defend the ranking points from Wimbledon, Ivanisevic's world ranking is set to plummet while he is absent from the ATP tour.
The prospect of having to haul himself back up the rankings is not one he will relish.
For now, the disappointment may be overwhelming but whatever happens in the coming months, for two weeks at Wimbledon in 2001 the Croatian cast a magical spell which will remain in the memory for many years to come.
Source: reuters.co.uk
Defending champion Ivanisevic to miss Wimbledon
7 May 2002
LONDON (Reuters) - Goran Ivanisevic will not be able to defend his Wimbledon title in June because of shoulder surgery.
Ivanisevic will have the operation to repair a tear in his left shoulder next week in the German city of Heidelberg.
"I wanted so much to play that opening match on Monday at Wimbledon on Centre Court," Ivanisevic said in a statement on Tuesday.
"I am very disappointed but I have no choice. I'm also disappointed for my supporters and all those who were looking forward to seeing me at Wimbledon."
The big-serving left-hander has been suffering from the injury for more than a year, but the pain worsened when he played Davis Cup for Croatia against Germany in February.
On Tuesday the Jutarnji List daily quoted Ivanisevic as saying the pain was becoming "insufferable".
"My shoulder feels like it's falling apart," the paper quoted him as saying.
He entered last year's Wimbledon with a broken-down shoulder and a triple-figure world ranking but beat Australian Pat Rafter in a thrilling five-set final to become the first man to win a grand slam tournament with a wild card.
Ivanisevic is hoping to recover from the surgery in order to be fit for the start of next year. However, by then he will be 31 and, by his own admission, he may struggle to rebuild his career.
Unable to defend the ranking points from Wimbledon, Ivanisevic's world ranking is set to drop while he is absent from the ATP tour and he does not relish the prospect of having to climb back up the rankings.
The Wimbledon championships start on June 24
Source: reuters.co.uk
Ivanisevic May Miss Wimbledon
7 May 2002
ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) - Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic isn't likely to defend the title next month.
Croatian newspapers reported earlier Tuesday that the 30-year-old left-hander has decided to undergo an operation on the serving shoulder that has been bothering him for years.
Asked in a brief telephone interview with The Associated Press whether it means he might miss Wimbledon, Ivanisevic said: "Most likely."
But he insisted that "nothing is firmly decided yet."
"My decision will depend on many things: the condition of my shoulder, what it will mean to my status, etc.," he said. "It's one of the heaviest decisions in my life."
The final decision could be expected in a few days, he added.
Ivanisevic was reportedly hastened towards surgery when pains in his shoulder forced him to cut short Monday's training in Split, his hometown in southern Croatia.
He has played only once in the last six weeks, a doubles match for Croatia in a Davis Cup quarterfinal tie a month ago. Ranked No. 16 in the world, he has canceled his entry in the ATP World Team Championship in Dusseldorf, Germany from May 20.
Doctors recently determined that much of the cartilage and muscle tissue in Ivanisevic's left shoulder was badly affected by more than a decade of professional tennis.
Ivanisevic beat Pat Rafter in last year's Wimbledon final to become the first wild card to win a Grand Slam singles title.
Source: yahoo.com
Ivanisevic will not miss Wimbledon, says agent
7 May 2002
LONDON (Reuters) - Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic will defend his crown at the grasscourt grand slam next month, the player's agent has announced, in contradiction to media reports to the contrary.
"He is going to play, don't doubt that," Jasmine Kafafian of Elite Management told Reuters from her Monaco base.
"There is no suggestion he will not be available."
Media reports in Ivanisevic's Croatian homeland have suggested the rangy left-hander will miss Wimbledon and instead undergo long-delayed surgery on his shoulder.
On Tuesday the Jutarnji List daily quoted Ivanisevic as saying the pain was becoming "insufferable".
"My shoulder feels like it's falling apart," the paper quoted him as saying.
But Kafafian said: "He is resting so that he will be in really good shape for Wimbledon.
"He is not playing in claycourt tournaments at the moment so that he is sure he will be fit and really ready for Wimbledon."
Ivanisevic has endured the shoulder injury for the last couple of years but has so far refused to consider surgery, saying he would play as long as he could, with the help of painkillers, before retiring.
He entered last year's Wimbledon with a broken-down shoulder and a triple-figure world ranking but beat Australian Pat Rafter in a thrilling five-set final to become the first man to win a grand slam tournament with a wild card.
Source: reuters.co.uk
Ivanisevic unlikely to defend Wimbledon title
7 May 2002
Croatia's Goran Ivanisevic is unlikely to defend his title at next month's Wimbledon tennis championships due to a should injury.
Press reports in Zagreb say the 30-year-old veteran has been hampered by tendonitis in his left shoulder and will have an operation.
Ivanisevic won last year's Wimbledon against all the odds after receiving a wildcard into the tournament.
He was quoted in Monday's Sportske Novosti newspaper as saying: "The way things are, there's no sense in it," referring to the futility of playing the event because of his injury.
Ivanisevic had previously said he would be retiring after the event at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, but only if his left shoulder continued to give him problems.
Source: abc.net.au