Invincible! C R O A T I A S P E C I A L

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1 C R O A T I A S P E C I A L August 2005 Communication and External Relations Department Invincible! ROGER FEDERER WINS HIS THIRD CONSECUTIVE WIMBLEDON AND IS CONFIRMED THE TRUE MASTER OF THE CIRCUIT, SET TO BECOME THE GREATEST TENNIS PLAYER OF ALL TIMES 1

2 Grand Slam Ranking Mr Slam Roger Federer On the eve of the last Major in New York, Roger Federer confirms he s the toughest in the tournaments that count. Meanwhile, Nadal, Safin, Roddick and Hewitt jostle for the other two podium positions. One man show. That s how the season promised to unfold. Many predicted that Roger Federer would join Donald Budge and Rod Laver as the only players capable of completing the Grand Slam. But things are turning out differently, as we saw immediately in January when the good Roger had to bow out to that bizarre phenomenon by the name of Marat Safin, in what is still the best game of the year so far. Then our Swiss ace found himself up against another opponent of the first order, Rafael Nadal, who got the measure of him in Miami and then beat him in the semifinal on his way to winning the French Open at Roland Garros. But as soon as play was back on grass, Federer restored the status quo. With his third consecutive Wimbledon, he s opened 2 Post scriptum up the gap again in the INDESIT ATP 2005 Race and also in the Grand Slam ranking. After three slams, he s the only player this season to have made the semi-finals each time and is thus way ahead of his opponents. There are four players fighting for the no. 2 spot and they re currently headed by Marat Safin, who triumphed in the Australian Open and then lost his way, partly through character, partly through a knee injury which had to be operated straight after Wimbledon. Hard on his heels come Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick on equal points. Of the two, the Spaniard has the edge, being the only one with a positive record on court against Federer (two wins to one) and definitely the new player of the season, to the extent that the Americans have chosen him as the player-image of the next US Open. Last in the group is Lleyton Hewitt, who might well have been leading it. The Australian is seen by Federer as his most dangerous rival (maybe because Roger doesn t want to raise Nadal s hopes too much) and in fact Hewitt could have been no. 2 in the Grand Slam Ranking if injury hadn t kept away from the clay courts of Roland Garros. The long summer on American cement (where two Masters Series and the last Slam will be played) will be the unforgiving indicator of how the season will end, even though the top spot is already assured. Federer in fact has already secured himself a place at the year-end Masters Cup tournament in Shanghai: no one has ever done this so long in advance. So the circuit is split in three, with Federer on top, Safin, Nadal, Hewitt and Roddick in the middle and all the rest behind. In the second half of the Top Guga Kuerten is back in the Brazilian Davis Cup team. In a packed stadium in his own Florianopolis, Kuerten led his country to an easy victory over the Dutch Antilles Rafael Nadal won his 7 th clay title this season at Bastad and his 29 th consecutive match win on clay.

3 All time greats Players careers are judged by their Grand Slam tournament results. Here s who s recorded the best results so far in the Open Era (1968). Roger Federer is currently way behind at 1526 but he s obviously got many years of play left in which to go for the summit of this peak as well. He ll have to maintain the winning streak he s had in the last two years for another six years. No mean task (Connors played and won till 40) but the Swiss champion is getting us used to great things. 1 4,999 Jimmy Connors (USA) 2 4,577 Ivan Lendl (Czech Rep.) 3 4,406 Pete Sampras (USA) 4 4,183 Andre Agassi (USA) 5 3,465 Boris Becker (Ger) He certainly deserves the title for longevity, having played winning tennis till he was 40. He clashed with other great names like Borg, McEnroe, Lendl, Becker, Agassi and so on and always came through with style. In 2 nd place just a handful of points behind, he started winning late but then couldn t stop. He regrets never having won at Wimbledon, the tournament he always wanted to win the most. If he d held out another couple of years, he may have outdone everyone. But winning his last US Open when everyone reckoned he was finished was already a huge achievement. His seven Wimbledon titles and 14 Slams are still an unbeaten record. The highest placed player still in action, although the impression is he won t be for much longer. He ll find it very difficult to overtake his arch rival Pete Sampras, unless injuries stop nagging him. He didn t have a great finale to his career, which is a shame after such a brilliant start. This enfant prodige had all Germany at his feet, together with Steffi Graf. 6 3,335 Stefan Edberg (Swe) 7 3,317 Bjorn Borg (Swe) 8 3,304 John McEnroe (USA) 9 2,840 Mats Wilander (Swe) 10 2,426 Guillermo Vilas (Arg) In constant rivalry with Becker, he just loses out to him in this particular standing. He won everywhere except Roland Garros, where in 1989 he lost a final he seemed to have in the bag, against Michael Chang. His bitterest regret. If he hadn t retired at 26 he would be at the top of this ranking. He has an average 122 points per tournament, ahead of Connors with only 86! He s won Paris six times and Wimbledon five but he tired too soon. In a ranking based on pure talent, he d be much higher up. His problem was he always played extraordinary tennis at Wimbledon and the US Open but never enough on the clay courts in Paris. Despite his technical limitations, he achieved truly extraordinary results. In 1988 he won three quarters of a Grand Slam; only the grass at Wimbledon eluded him. With Borg he was the strongest player of all time after four hours play. His bête noir was always Bjorn Borg. They played similar tennis but the Swedish bear just seemed to do everything a shade better. He won on clay in Paris and on grass in Australia and his single handed backhand created a new school. 10 of the Grand Slam Ranking we have the big surprises of 2005, above all the Russian Nikolay Davydenko and the Argentinean Mariano Puerta. Davydenko has been in dazzling form since he changed racquet (Guillermo Coria lent him one by chance). He reached the semi-final in the Masters Series in Hamburg and Roland Garros and it was only injury that stopped him doing better on grass too. If he survives physically, he ll be in with a fighting chance of making it into the Masters Cup, given a versatility that enables him to cope well on all surfaces. Puerta is a different case, for he s not at all happy off clay and the clay season is practically over, at least in terms of the top tournaments. However, the Paris final is the Argentinean s career best, to date, and was completely unexpected (he wasn t even in the world s top hundred). Rafael Nadal At Wimbledon Roger Federer wore shoes with the rare 24 carat gold microprisms used in the Golden Shoes that Michael Johnson wore when he won the 400 metres gold at the Sydney Olympics The Wimbledon specials broadcast by the American ESPN2 network set up three years ago enjoyed record audiences 3

4 Grand Slam Ranking Marat Safin Catching up with Pete Pete Sampras holds the most important record though the highest number of Grand Slam title won. Federer is ready to mount a challenge. It s his key objective along with the (more complex) one of winning the Grand Slam. Player Grand Slam titles 1 Pete Sampras (USA) 14 2 Roy Emerson (Aus) 12 3 Bjorn Borg (Swe) 11 4 Rod Laver (Aus) 11 5 Bill Tilden (USA) 10 6 Fred Perry (UK) 8 6 Andre Agassi (USA) 8 6 Jimmy Connors (USA) 8 6 Ken Rosewall (Aus) 8 6 Ivan Lendl (Czech Rep) 8 Roger Federer (Swi) 5 4 The magnificent 10 Pos. Player AO RG WB TOT* 1 Roger Federer SF SF W Marat Safin W 4T 3T Rafael Nadal 4T W 2T Andy Roddick SF 2T F Lleyton Hewitt F - SF Nikolay Daydenko QF SF 2T Mariano Puerta - F 1T David Nalbandian QF 4T QF Thomas Johansson 4T 2T SF Sebastien Grosjean 2T 4T QF 87 Post scriptum The other three in the Top 10 all have great experience and are returning to high level play: the Argentinean David Nalbandian, the Swedish Thomas Johansson and the French Sebastien Grosjean, who all did well at Wimbledon. And there s no lack of competition outside the top 10. Even though the top five players are fairly confident and look unapproachable, the rest aren t really so far behind. But who has the best chance closing the gap? One name who will soon be stable in the Top 10 and who need envy no one in terms of talent is the 19 year old French Richard Gasquet. This year he s finally come out among the greats and on the eve of Wimbledon won his first ATP title. If he continues to make progress in the second half of the year, the number eight slot should be well within reach. The long awaited contest with Rafael Nadal, also 18, could well start this year. Nor should we forget the Chilean Fernando Gonzalez, in fine form this year, and obviously Andre Agassi, provided he stays clear of injury. And finally, another player with excellent pedigree, Juan Carlos Ferrero, former world no. 1 and Roland Garros winner. After a year lost through health problems, Ferrero is coming back to levels more in keeping with his talent. If he can perform in the tournaments that count, he still has a chance of making the Top 8 in Shanghai. There are currently two charity bracelets promoted by tennis players: Andy Roddick s blue No Compromise and Tim Henman s green Give and Get ; they can still be obtained from and at French Connection stores in London (

5 Special Ranking INDESIT ATP 2005 Race 1 Roger Federer (Swi) Age 23 Race Points wins/3 defeats He dominated Wimbledon, having also won the run-up tournament in Halle. Nadal had drawn alongside in the top spot but the Swiss has now streaked ahead again. The INDESIT ATP 2005 Race looks already tied up at the end of July. 5 Nikolay Davydenko (Rus) Age 24 - Race Points wins/16 defeats The real surprise this season, at least in terms of consistency of yield. Will he manage to defend his place till the end of the year though? In the meantime, he s got to no. 5 and is in with a chance of making the Masters Cup in Shanghai. 1 Rafael Nadal (Spa) Age 19 Race Points wins/8 defeats It was clear that he wouldn t be able to stay the course with King Federer. But he s still a safe second and the American cement should give him at least a hope of closing the gap with the Swiss. 7 Guillermo Coria (Arg) Age 23 - Race points wins/13 defeats No grand exploits, as grass isn t his favourite surface, even though he s put up an excellent defence. He ll have to excel on American cement to stay in the Top 8 for his second Masters Cup. 3 Andy Roddick (USA) Age 22 Race Points wins/8 defeats The Wimbledon final redeemed a season that hasn t been brilliant so far, for an ex number one. But the top two are still way ahead and he ll have to watch out for Hewitt if he wants to keep his podium place. 8 Gaston Gaudio (Arg) Age 26 Race Points wins/11 defeats Excellent consistency and yield on clay, if he could only chalk up some decent results on grass too, he d be a permanent Top Tenner. But as things are, he ll be risking his position this summer in America. 4 Lleyton Hewitt (Aus) Age 24 Race Points wins/5 defeats Federer sees him as his strongest adversary but the Australian hasn t won a set of him yet. Perennially at the gates of heaven, he will play to the very end to make it onto the world podium. 9 Mariano Puerta (Arg) Age 26 - Race Points wins/10 defeats Still on a high after his final in Paris, but for how long. What s certain is that away from his clay courts, he s rather out of his depth. He ll try and exploit the few clay events left to stay in the top Marat Safin (Rus) Age 25 Race Points wins/10 defeats A series of endless ups and downs. A final at Halle, followed by an early exit from Wimbledon. A knee injury has kept him off court for weeks but his victory in Australia qualifies him for the Masters Cup. 10 David Ferrer (Spa) 20 Age 23 Race Points wins/17 defeats So far, a brilliant season but alarm signals are already sounding. If he wants to stay in the Top 10, he ll have to go on performing as well as in the first half of the season, which won t be at all easy. 1 Position in INDESIT ATP 2005 Race 1 Position in INDESIT ATP Entry Ranking Agassi power Andre Agassi is sill the best paid tennis player in the world according to the prestigious American magazine Forbes, a specialist in these rankings. And not only. Agassi is also in the Top 100 highest paid and most influential sports celebrities. He s 49 th in the Pay Rank and 59 th in the Power Rank. He s also no. 23 in the Press Rank, showing how much he s appreciated by the world s press as well. Here are the top 10 athletes in the general Celebrity 100. Richard Gasquet Under-21 ranking At nearly half way through the season, here are the under 20 players in the Indesit ATP 2005 Race Top 100. The new entry is the 18 year old Serb Novak Djokovic. Pos. Race Player Year 2 Rafael Nadal Richard Gasquet Tomas Berdych Stanislas Wawrinka Gael Monfils Nicolas Almagro Marcos Baghdatis Novak Djokovic 1987 Rafael Nadal Andre Agassi Athlete sport power rank pay rank 1 Tiger Woods golf O Neal basketball Lance Armstrong cycling Michael Jordan basketball Michael Schumacher motor racing Kobe Bryant basketball David Beckham football Michael Vick football USA Derek Jeter baseball Jeff Gordon motor racing Andre Agassi tennis Winning service returns Spanish Rafael Nadal leads in all four of the service return statistics, from points won receiving a 1 st and 2 nd serve, games won receiving serve and break points converted, thus confirming his killer instinct for exploiting even the slightest chances he gets. Player Naz % break points converted matchs played 1 Rafael Nadal Spain Xavier Malisse Belgium David Ferrer Spain David Nalbandian Argentina Nicolas Kiefer Germany Richard Gasquet France Christophe Rochus Belgium Agustin Calleri Argentina Potito Starace Italy Roger Federer Switzerland Roger Federer s Wimbledon victory takes his record to 21 consecutive finals wins. The last person to beat him in a final was Jiri Novak, at Gstaad in 2003 The USTA has launched the Us Open Series, a programme of ATP summer tournaments culminating in the 4 th Grand Slam in New York at the end of August and whose final will be played on the significant date of 11 th September 5

6 New rules Doubles rules are being altered to make tournaments more entertaining and attract the public the game used to have and still deserves. Here s how. Worth double W What s the difference between a pair and a couple? Burton and Taylor and Tarzan and Jane are famous screen couples. But tennis fans are more interested in doubles pairs, such as Newcombe-Roche, Fleming-McEnroe, then the Woodies, down to today s Bryans. But though doubles is still played a lot in clubs, it s lost a lot of its appeal in the professional circuit. Which is the fault of singles, which is getting tougher and tougher, requiring perfect physical and mental preparation. Playing two games in a week is just too demanding, so top players are abandoning doubles en masse, thus robbing the game of its pro- appeal. The ATP is trying to staunch this haemorrhage and has decided to introduce some modifications to the rules to make the game more fun to watch. Let s have a look at them. The most significant ones regards scoring. Sets will now be won by the first to reach five instead of six games, with a tie-break being played on 4-4. Further, at deuce there will be a single decider (ie. no more advantage points) with the player receiving choosing which side of the court to takes the serve on. These two radical changes will help shorten matches and above all make it easier to estimate their length with more precision. This will make it simpler for organizers to include doubles matches in the calendars of major courts, and with the crucial presence of TV. All this will provide very important promotion for doubles tennis and hopefully restore it to its former glory. The changes were suggested after a survey was carried out by the Research & Development Doubles Project Team co-ordinated by Horst Klosterkemper, ATP Europe and Player Relations President. The survey looked at four targets: fans, players, media and tournament organizers. Equal numbers of singles and doubles players were interviewed and 4,837 fans helped with the survey by replying on line (ATPtennis.com). All the respondents in our target groups thought that doubles was an important part of our sport. But also that something had to be done to relaunch it. In particular, the top singles players said they d be more willing to play doubles if matches were shortened to 90 minutes at the most. The new rules not only meet these needs. We ve also found a formula to make matches more exciting. Rafael Nadal, who s played doubles in around half of his tournaments this year, said he was satisfied with the ATP s measures. I m sure that a lot of other top players will decide to play doubles after these changes. Now it s a question of time. The ATP has done its utmost to satisfy everyone s needs and created an easier and more entertaining system. After all, it s clear that if the world s best players ignore the sport, it s going to be difficult to make it more appealing. Even though young players are keen, as shown by Nadal and Federer who have also been successful in doubles this year. Further, doubles tennis is obviously the essence of the Davis Cup, which continues to enjoy prestige and which major champions have always felt inspired by. The aim will have been achieved anyway if top players start playing in doubles more often. Post scriptum Marat Safin has completed re-education of his knee following his operation at the Isokinetic centre in Bologna At Bastad, Rafael Nadal and Tomas Berdych staged the first final between teenagers since 1999, when Lleyton Hewiit and Xavier Malisse met at Delray Beach 6

7 Personality Todd Woodbridge problem acceptable to both sides. I m leaving the scene just when big changes are in the offing, ones that will hopefully benefit doubles tournaments. It s a pity so many players don t take part in doubles tournaments. They say there are fewer and fewer serve & volley players and that this is because people are no longer used to or confident about going up to the net. If there was more doubles play though, that problem would be sorted out in no time. Lleyton Hewitt is the meanest player on the circuit. I don t know anyone who wouldn t like a shot of his meanness when they go on court. The greatest unrealized talent in Australian tennis is still Mark Philippoussis. If he didn t get injured so often and had trained better, he would undoubtedly have won some Slam titles and could have tried for top seed. You have the impression of having to perform some extraordinary feat to manage to beat them Mark Knowles on the Woodies. WWhen I arrived at Wimbledon, I had no intention of retiring. On the contrary, I was hoping to win my 10th title. But I lost straightaway! And that s how I realized it was time to give up. It was the best place to do it. I m sorry I didn t play in the Davis Cup against Argentina but it was a decision that had to be taken on the spot and I don t want to go back on it. When you retire, it should be for good. Anyway, I m sure my companions will be able to look after themselves in years to come without me. Fleming says the best doubles pair is John McEnroe with anyone else? Not with anyone else, I think. Maybe we could say that the best doubles pair never actually played together. The tops would have been me on the right and John McEnroe on the left. It s hard to say which was the sweetest victory when you ve won so many tournaments. Maybe the first Wimbledon success... In Australia, Wimbledon s considered the most important tournament in the world and Australia s best doubles pairs have won there. Since then, me and Woodforde have made incredible progress. You become symbiotic with your partner. I ve spent more time with Woodforde maybe than with my wife! I got on well with successive partners too but it s obviously the Woodies that people will remember. Playing doubles so constantly didn t compromise my singles results. On the contrary. In singles I achieved the best results my talent would allow for. Playing doubles enabled me to improve certain aspects of my game. Playing a final on the Centre Court at Wimbledon is an extraordinary mental experience that helps you in singles, in tennis in general and even in everyday life. They re strong emotions that help to mature. Something certainly has to be done to make doubles attractive for the general public again. It s fundamentally important that tournament organizers and players talk more often about solutions to the A legendary doubles player who s won 16 Grand Slam titles and 83 ATP titles, mostly with Mark Woodforde, the other famous Woodie. He played his last match at Wimbledon just before announcing his definitive retirement. One big regret we have? Not having had the chance to play against the Woodies. That would have been great. Bryan brothers. What will I do in the future? I want to stay in tennis. We Australians usually end up as TV comentators. Woodforde s already there. We could relaunch the Woodies... on televsion. Lleyton Hewitt married actress Bec Cartwright, who is expecting a baby; there were 120 guests Big success for The Agassi Story by father Mike Agassi, currently on sale in 14 countries, mainly in Asia and above all China The ATP 2006 calendar is now available at 7

8 S P E C I A L C R O A T I A Having reached the semi-finals, Ivan Ljubicic, Mario Ancic and Ivo Karlovic, the top three Croats, are hoping to make history in this year s Davis Cup. They have an excellent chance of success Mario Ancic Dream Team T Till a few years ago, if you said tennis in Croatia, people thought of Goran Ivanisevic, a talent with few equals but at the same time a reputation for craziness that was fully deserved. Everyone else was mere background goods players, promising talents, a few surprises now and again. But nothing really out of the ordinary. Well, Ivanisevic has gone (in terms of tennis) and a void in his absence did not form, on the contrary, an excellent school of worthy heirs has budded. The most outstanding is Mario Ancic, who really ought to be a permanent fixture in the Top 10. Born in Spalato, in a street that s since be re-named Champions Street, given that Ivanisevic and before him Zeliko Franulovic were all born within a few metres of one another. He grew up with the legend of Ivanisevic in his mind and dreamt of repeating the Wimbledon success that earned Goran a place in tennis history. He helped me tremendously, always encouraging and advising me. And then his Wimbledon victory. I was one of the thousands of people waiting for him on his return. That extraordinary event has given me a belief that I too can do something like that. He came close last year when he reached the semifinal, where he went down fighting to Andy Roddick. This year he didn t get so close, being soundly beaten by Feliciano Lopez ( the worst game I ve played for ages ). Mario holds an enviable record though, being the last person to have beaten Federer on grass, at Wimbledon in But Ancic is just the tip of an iceberg, albeit the youngest (and most promising) of the team. He has other strong players who will support him in the struggle for the coveted Davis Cup, the ultimate goal of the season for Croatian players. Over and above the Slam, ATP and Masters Series tournaments, Croatia is in with real chance of winning the Davis Cup this year. It all started with their extraordinary victory in Carson, near Los Angeles, again- Post scriptum Ivo Karlovic is the player with the highest ace per match rate (18). In the ATP total aces ranking he s 4 th, at 450, behind Andy Roddick (564), fellow Croat Mario Ancic (493) and Max Mirnyi (478). The other Croat Ivan Ljubicic is 7 th (430) 8

9 G S C R O A T I A Goran Ivanisevic st a powerful US team. The star was Ivan Ljubicic, whose performance there confirmed the extraordinary form he s found this year, having reached four ATP finals. He may have lost them but three were against Roger Federer and the fourth against an inspired Joachim Johansson. Having closed the gap with the Top 10, Ljubicic really came into his own in the Davis Cup against the Americans. First he dispensed with Andre Agassi in three nifty sets and on the last day he won the decisive match against Andy Roddick, who is even more dangerous than usual in the Davis Cup. If you add to these two victories the doubles success against the Bryan brothers. Ancic and Ljubicic then make a pair that can aim for the very top, especially if they continue to exploit the home factor as they did in their last success against Romania, which put Croatia in the semi-finals, where they ll play Russia, again on home ground. The only handicap for this Croatian Dream Team is clay, surface on which none of their best players manages to compete at the highest level. But as long as they play in Croatia, there won t be much clay. The Croatians welcome you with indoor super-rapid synthetic courts and an atmosphere like a World Cup football final. Coming through this unscathed is nigh impossible, as the French will find out in spite of their highly competitive team and the phenomenal Richard Gasquet, who gets better every Ivo Karlovic The Three Croat Musketeers are also in the Top 10 for games won on serve: Karlovic (91%) is second only to Roddick (92%); Ancic and Ljubicic are level 7 th (86%) Karlovic is in 1 st place in terms of points won on first serve (82%) together with Australian Wayne Arthurs Karlovic s record for games won against serve isn t so great: only 6%. Next in this ranking are Wayne Arthurs (11%) and Gilles Muller (13%) 9

10 G S C R O A T I A The Three Musketeers Croatia s hopes of winning the Davis Cup hang on three players: Ivan Ljubicic, Mario Ancic and Ivo Karlovic. Ivan Ljubicic Age wins/15 defeats INDESIT ATP 2005 Race 13 This is his best season to date. He s reached four finals, pity three of them were against a certain Roger Federer. Now is not his high point because grass and clay aren t his favourite surfaces. But back on American cement he ll be bad news for all contenders. Mario Ancic Age wins/16 defeats INDESIT ATP 2005 Race 16 After last year s Wimbledon semi-final, we were expecting to see him in the world Top 10. But Mario is making heavy weather of it this year, even though he won at s-hertogenbosch and was a finalist at Scottsdale. But he didn t get past the 4 th round at Wimbledon, which was to have been the key tournament of his season. Ivo Karlovic Age wins/15 defeats INDESIT ATP 2005 Race 70 Ladies & Gentleman, here is the circuit s most extraordinary serve. No one wants to meet him on fast surfaces because it s practically impossible to break him. He chalks up an average 18 aces a match and holds serve at a rate of 92%. He s a little weak on returning serves though and only manages a 6% success rate in breaking. week. This is Croatia s big chance, a once in a life time opportunity they have no intention of wasting. Especially now that the top two have found a worthy substitute. Playing three matches in three days isn t simple and injury is always lurking, ready to transform a dream into a nightmare. The new discovery is Ivo Karlovic, a player that any talent scout would have signed up for basketball. Over 2 metres 5 cm, he s the tallest player on the circuit and without a shadow of a doubt the most terrifying serve in the world. On fast surfaces, his matches are impossible to bet on. A tie-break is almost inevitable and when a match hangs on 2 or 3 points it can go either way, whichever way fortune smiles. Karlovic the classic outsider: he s currently world no. 70 but is quite capable of beating the likes of Lleyton Hewitt (Australia are favourites for the Davis Cup final), as happened on grass at the Queen s. So those are the three Croatian musketeers going for tennis s most prestigious trophy, the equivalent of the World Championships in other sports. Croatia is just two short steps away from entering the history books, two steps that Ancic & Co. are perfectly capable of taking. The next step is on 23rd September when the semi-finals will be played. Then Croatia really would be close to achieving one of the greatest sporting achievements in its history. Ivan Ljubicic Post scriptum There are only three players who ve won the Umag tournament and gone on to become world no. 1: Carlos Moya, Thomas Muster and Marcelo Rios Carlos Moya has won the ATP Umag tournament four times. Thomas Muster follows with three wins Ivan Ljubicic has won 31 matches this year, making him no. 7 in the matches won ranking 10

11 Ivo Karlovic Aceman Ivan Ljubicic *sum of top three players in the INDESIT ATP Entry Ranking Croatia s top three players have one thing in common an extremely punishing serve. Just look at the ace statistics. Nation Points* 1 Argentina 30 2 Russia 37 3 Spain 39 Player Nat. Ace per match 1 Ivo Karlovic Cro 18 2 Wayne Arthurs Aus Joachim Johansson Swe Andy Roddick USA Mark Philippoussis Aus Max Mirnyi Bie 12 7 Mario Ancic Cro Lleyton Hewitt Aus Greg Rusedski UK Ivan Ljubicic Cro 9.8 National rankings Argentina still heads the rankings, followed by the USA and Russia. Spain was ousted from the podium in spite of Rafael Nadal. 4 USA 40 5 Sweden 62 6 Czech Rep France Germany Croatia Belgium 145 The Croatian team celebrates after having beaten the USA in Davis Cup Davis Cup Ranking Croatia has it sights on the Davis Cup this year after its brilliant away victory against the USA. Its recent wins have sent the country up through the rankings and into the Top 10. Nazione punti 1 Spain Australia Russia France Argentina USA Croatia Slovakia 8.377,5 9 Switzerland 6.359,4 10 Belarus 6.118,1 Marin Cilic New talents Player Nation Born Points 1 Donald Young USA Marin Cilic Cro Leonardo Mayer Arg Sun-Yong Kim Jr. Kor Jeremy Chardy Fra Niels Desein Bel Robin Haase Neth Sergei Bubka Ukr Petar Jelenic Cro Timothy Neilly USA Croatian tennis is not just Ancic & Co. New talents are lining up behind them, and first in the queue is 16 year-old Marin Cilic, who lives in Zagabria and won the junior title at Roland Garros this year, which sent him to no. 2 in the world junior rankings. In the Paris semi-final he beat a certain Andrew Murray, who went on to do well at Wimbledon, in the adult category though. The young Croat s win in Paris showed us exactly what he s capable of. Behind him there s Petar Jelenic, 18, from Spalato, no. 9 in the world junior ranking. This year he won the Bonfiglo Cup in Milan (ITF Grade A tournament) and lost in the final, on grass, at Roehampton to... Marin Cilic. These are the two best prospects Croatia is relying on to stay at the top end of world tennis. And the highest paid Croat? Ivan Ljubicic, who s collected $577,574 this year in prize money alone. He s followed by Mario Ancic with $482,270 and Ivo Karlovic with $221,748 For further information, please contact Chiara Pascarella (Indesit Company, chiara.pascarella@indesitcompany.com, tel. +39 (0) ) or Valentina Broglia (Indesit Company, valentina.broglia@indesitcompany.com, tel. +39 (0) ) 11

12 Memorabilia The Wimbledon Trophy All the Slam tournaments are important but Wimbledon has a special pull. Maybe it s the grass, or the tradition but for two weeks I can t think of anything else. I switch my mobile off, don t read the papers. All I see is the Cup. How will I manage to lift it up on the first Sunday of July Roger Federer 12