Mario Ancic

{{foreignchars|[[č]] and [[ć]]|Mario Ancic}} {{IPA notice}} {{MedalTop}} {{MedalCountry|{{CRO}}}} {{MedalSport | Men's [[Tennis at the Summer Olympics|Tennis]]}} {{MedalBronze| [[Tennis at the 2004 Summer Olympics|2004 Athens]] | [[Tennis at the 2004 Summer Olympics - Men's Doubles|Doubles]]}} {{MedalBottom}} '''Mario Ančić''' ({{IPA-sh|mâːrio âːntʃitɕ|hr}}) (born March 30, 1984) is a retired [[Croats|Croatia]]n professional [[tennis]] player. He won three singles titles and five doubles titles. His highest international ranking came during the [[2006 ATP Tour]], when he reached no. 7 in singles. Apart from his success on the ATP Tour, Mario helped [[Croatia Davis Cup team|Croatia]] to win the 2005 [[Davis Cup]] and at the [[2004 Summer Olympics|Athens Olympic Games]] in 2004, he and [[Ivan Ljubičić]] won a bronze medal in doubles for Croatia. As a teenager making his [[Grand Slam (tennis)|Grand Slam]] debut at the [[2002 Wimbledon Championships]], he defeated seventh-seeded [[Roger Federer]]. This win also made him the last player to defeat Federer at Wimbledon (until [[Rafael Nadal]] in 2008 ) and on grass courts. His best performance at Grand Slams came at the [[2004 Wimbledon Championships]], when he reached the semifinals. Due to his success at Wimbledon and grass courts, many saw in Mario a successor of [[Goran Ivanišević]], the 2001 Wimbledon Champion and a former No. 2 in singles, earning a nickname ''New Goran'' and ''Baby Goran''. During 2007 and 2008, mononucleosis and minor injuries forced him to miss many major events, and his ranking dropped from no. 9 in January 2007 to no. 135 in January 2008. He was coached by Fredrik Rosengren from August 2005 - October 2008. ==Personal life== Mario was born in [[Split (city)|Split]] to Stipe and Nilda Ančić. His father owns a supermarket chain, and his mother is a financial adviser. His older brother [[Ivica Ančić|Ivica]] and younger sister [[Sanja Ančić|Sanja]] were also professional tennis players. Ivica achieved a career high ATP Ranking of no. 378 in 1997, while Sanja, was a world top-10 junior in 2005 and achieved a ranking of no. 159 on the WTA Tour in 2006. Ančić was raised in a [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] family and states that his faith is very important to him. He is very close to his uncle who is a [[priest]], ex [[missionary]]. ==Legal career== From 2002 to 2008, Mario was a law student at the [[University of Split]]; he graduated from its law school on April 14, 2008, with a thesis entitled ''"ATP Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow"'', describing the legal foundation and organization of the [[ATP Tour]]. Illness forced Ančić to be off courts in much of the 2009 tennis season, and he started his residency in the law office of Turudić in [[Zagreb]]; but he announced he would freeze his residency for some time due to his tennis career. In 2009, he spoke twice at the [[Harvard Law School]] about his law and tennis experiences, and the second time about doping cases in tennis. ===First steps=== Ančić grew up two doors away from the ''Firule'' tennis club, where he started playing at age seven. From age 10 on, Mario practiced there with [[Goran Ivanišević]], with whom he played doubles matches later in his career. In 1996, he served as a [[ball boy]] when Ivanišević played in the Croatia-Australia [[Davis Cup]] tie in Split. ===Early career (2000–2002)=== As a junior player, he rose to no. 1 in the junior world-rankings, on January 2, 2001. He made the finals in boys' singles at the [[2000 Australian Open]] (losing to [[Andy Roddick]]) and the [[2000 Wimbledon Championships]] (losing to [[Nicolas Mahut]]). Ivanišević was his doubles partner in both his [[Croatian Davis Cup Team]] debut and at the [[2000 Summer Olympic Games]] in [[Tennis at the 2000 Summer Olympics - Men's Doubles|doubles]]. The duo lost in the opening round at the Olympics. At first, Mario mostly played Futures and [[Davis Cup]] tournaments, winning one title in Zagreb; and from August 2001 he started to play Challenger tournaments, wining four in singles and one in doubles. He compiled a record of 30-16 in Challenger play in 2002. ===ATP Tour career (2002–2005)=== His ATP debut was at [[Miami Masters]], where he drew a wild card, but he lost in the opening round. The highlight of his Grand Slam debut at the [[2002 Wimbledon Championships]] was the major upset of his first round defeat of [[Roger Federer]], the seventh seed, 6-3, 7-6(2), 6-3 in just under two hours. In so doing he became the first teenager to win on his Wimbledon debut on Center Court since [[Björn Borg]] triumphed in 1973. After the match, he confessed to having received a few pointers from Ivanišević, and the British media dubbed him the ''New Goran''. However, in the next round, he lost to [[Jan Vacek]]. His second Grand Slam appearance was the US Open, where he made it into the main singles, being drawn as a lucky loser, but he retired in the fifth set of the opening round against [[Dominik Hrbatý]] because of [[leg cramps]]. He finished the 2002 season in the top 100 in singles, with ten wins in two straight weeks at two Challengers in Prague and Milan. Ančić kicked off 2003 with his [[Australian Open]] debut, losing to [[Juan Carlos Ferrero]] in the fourth round. The following week, he won his last Challenger tournament in Hamburg, defeating [[Rafael Nadal]] in the final. After that, Mario started to play on [[ATP Masters Series]] events, but could not get past the first rounds. In late May, after nine straight losses, he got as far as the quarterfinals at [[Hypo Group Tennis International|St. Pölten]]. He also made the quarterfinal at the [[Stockholm Open]] in September. He had more success with doubles. In July, with [[Andy Ram]], he won his first ATP Tour title at [[Indianapolis Tennis Championships]]; and a few week later, with [[Ivan Ljubičić]], he reached the quarterfinals at the US Open, losing to [[Bob and Mike Bryan]]. He was the first player to be beaten by [[Rafael Nadal]] in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament, at [[2003 Wimbledon Championships - Men's Singles|Wimbledon in 2003]]. [[File:Ivanisevic Ancic Queens Club 2004.jpg|thumb|left|[[Goran Ivanišević]] and Mario Ančić playing doubles during the 2004 [[Queen's Club Championships]]]] At the [[Milan Indoor|ATP Indesit Milano Indoor]], in February 2004, Ančić made it into his first singles ATP final, beating on the way sixth seed [[Rafael Nadal]] and third seed [[Tommy Robredo]], before losing the third set in tiebreak, to [[Anthony Dupuis]] in the final. In June and July, he posted his best-ever results on grass with a third round showing at [[Queen's Club Championships]], losing to [[Andy Roddick]], and a semifinal at [[Ordina Open]], losing to [[Guillermo Coria]]. At the [[2004 Wimbledon Championships]], Mario made his best-ever Grand Slam result, reaching the semifinals. On the way, he defeated three seeded players, including British [[Tim Henman]] in the quarterfinals, in straights sets; and finally, he again lost to Roddick, 4-6, 6-4, 5-7, 5-7. In reaching the Grand Slam semifinals, he jumped 36 places on the ATP singles ranking, to no. 27. In doubles, he teamed up with [[Ivan Ljubičić]], and represented [[Croatia at the 2004 Summer Olympics]]. They won a bronze medal, losing to [[Fernando González|González]] and [[Nicolás Massú]] in the semifinal, and winning against [[Mahesh Bhupathi]] and [[Leander Paes]], with a score of 16-14 in the third set. In three straight weeks from February 7, 2005, he had awin-loss score of 10-3, reaching two semifinals and one final, in Marseille and Rotterdam, where he lost to Ljubičić and Federer in the semifinals, and in Scottsdale, where he lost in the final to [[Wayne Arthurs (tennis)|Wayne Arthurs]]. Although he could not repeat the previous year's performance at Wimbledon, he won his first ATP singles title at the [[Ordina Open]], beating the defending champion, [[Michaël Llodra]]; and on clay courts, together with [[Julian Knowle]], he won his second doubles title at the [[BMW Open]]. His 2005 highlights also include the final at the [[Japan Open Tennis Championships]], losing to [[Wesley Moodie]]. ===Career apex (2006)=== Ančić started on the [[2006 ATP Tour]] with strong note in his second tournament of the year in [[Heineken Open (tennis)|Auckland]], where he defeated top seed [[Fernando González]] on his way to the final. However, he could not repeat his form in the final, going down in straight sets to [[Jarkko Nieminen]]. In February, he also reached the final in [[Open 13|Marseille]], losing to [[Arnaud Clément]]. He made in the quarterfinals at two Masters and two Grand Slams tournaments. Mario was defeated twice by [[David Nalbandian]], at [[Miami Masters|Miami]] and [[Rome Masters|Rome]]; and two times by [[Roger Federer]], at Grand Slams, the French Open and Wimbledon. He also reached his career high at [[Master Series]] event, reaching the semifinals at [[Hamburg Masters]]. A week before Wimbledon, Mario successfully defended his 2005 title at [[Ordina Open|‘s-Hertogenbosch]]. After Wimbledon, Mario reached no. 7, his career high in singles. At the [[2006 French Open]], he had a shoving incident with [[Paul Capdeville]] at the end of his second-round match. Ančić was bothered by the Chilean's repeated complaints to the chair umpire, including just before the post-match handshake. Ančić told Capdeville to drop it, and Capdeville shoved him. Both of them were fined $3,000. Ančić missed the US hard-court season due to a knee injury received in a [[jet skiing]] accident, and just before the [[2006 U.S. Open (tennis)|2006 US Open]], a back injury. In September, in the first event after the summer injuries, he reached the final at the [[China Open (tennis)|China Open]], losing to [[Marcos Baghdatis]]. Mario also teamed up with [[Mahesh Bhupathi]] and won two doubles titles in Beijing and [[Kingfisher Airlines Tennis Open|Mumbai]]. In October, he won his third singles title at the [[St. Petersburg Open]]. At the [[Paris Masters]], Ančić lost to [[Nikolay Davydenko]] in the quarterfinals. If Ančić had won, he would have secured the final spot in the field, narrowly missing a spot in the eight-man [[Tennis Masters Cup]] in Shanghai. ===Mononucleosis, and return to the Tour (2007-2010)=== After a successful 2006 season, Ančić began the year by representing Croatia with his younger sister, [[Sanja Ančić]], at the [[2007 Hopman Cup]], but they did not advance from the group stage. He then entered the [[2007 Australian Open]] as the ninth seed, and advanced to a fourth round, where he played against [[Andy Roddick]], seeded sixth. He lost the match after Roddick broke Ančić in the fifth game of the fifth set, then held that advantage, serving out the match and winning with the final result 3–6, 6–3, 1–6, 7–5, 4–6. In [[Marseille Open|Marseille]], Ančić retired in the first round and was diagnosed with [[Infectious mononucleosis|mononucleosis]]. Later, he confessed that he was playing sick a week before in a match against Germany in the [[Davis Cup]], and the virus had almost certainly started to affect him at the Australian Open. Due to his illness, Ančić spent most of the next ten weeks in bed and missed six months from the Tour. Ančić started training in June with his Swedish coach, Fredrik Rosengren, in the Slovenian Alps. After he withdrew from two tournaments in July, Mario returned in August at the [[Canada Masters]] and the [[Cincinnati Masters]], where he lost in the second rounds. He was offered a [[Wild card (sports)|wild card]] for the main draw in the [[Pilot Pen Tennis]] tournament in New Haven, but he turned it down with the explanation that he needed matches. Mario fractured a small bone at the gym a week before the US Open, which was the third Grand Slam he missed in 2007. In October, he made his first big result after the illness, making it into the quarterfinals at [[Madrid Masters]] beating eighth seed [[James Blake]] and [[Paul-Henri Mathieu]] on the way, before losing to [[Novak Djokovic]] in straight sets. In 2007, he dropped 74 places, from no. 9 to no. 83 at the end of the year. [[Image:Mario Ancic at Indian Wells.jpg|thumb|right|220px|Ančić hitting a backhand at the [[2008 Indian Wells Masters]]]] Ančić started the 2008 season again with illness and was forced to withdraw from the tournaments in Australia, missing his fourth Grand Slam in a row. His first 2008 event was in [[Marseille Open|Marseille]] in February, where he beat the 2008 Australian-Open finalist [[Jo-Wilfried Tsonga]] and [[Marcos Baghdatis]]. He eventually lost in the final to [[Andy Murray]]. At the [[Indian Wells Masters]] and [[Miami Masters]], Mario entered the main draw by receiving wild cards, where he beat three seeded players. Like in 2006, he was beaten by [[Roger Federer]] twice, at the French Open in the third round, and at Wimbledon, where he reached the quarterfinals. On the way to the quarterfinals, he beat 32nd seed [[Michaël Llodra]] and fifth seed [[David Ferrer]], and had a comeback win against 22nd seeded [[Fernando Verdasco]] in the fourth round, coming from two sets down to win, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 13-11. By reaching the quarter-final, he jumped 19 places, to No. 24 on the ATP singles rankings. In doubles, he won his fifth title at [[Ordina Open|s'Hertogenbosch]] with [[Jürgen Melzer]]. Having lost in an opening round at the [[Canada Masters]] and having skipped the [[Cincinnati Masters]], as the fatigue intensified and the weight loss mounted, Mario withdrew from the [[2008 Summer Olympics]], and later the US Open, due to a recurrence of mononucleosis. Ančić returned in September, playing for the Davis Cup. After a good start at the beginning of the 2009 season, in May, Ančić announced that he would pull out of the French Open, Wimbledon, and the Davis Cup semifinal match, again because recurrence of mononucleosis. Ančić announced in October 2009 that he planned to start at the end of January 2010 on a couple of European ATP Challengers. His best result was a runner-up spot in a futures event in the USA. Mario's comeback was complete when he returned to the main tour level at the [[2010 BNP Paribas Open]]. He made it to the third round, after beating, [[Bobby Reynolds]] and surprisingly [[Julien Benneteau]], and lost to Nadal, 2-6, 2-6. He did not have so much success the week after at the [[2010 Sony Ericsson Open|Sony Ericsson Open]], where he lost in the first round to [[Jérémy Chardy]]. Ančić continued to play Challengers without success. He also lost a tight first-round match to Koellerer in a 250 event in Munich. He then received a wild card to Queen's on his favoured surface of grass. ===Davis Cup career=== Mario Ančić started his [[Davis Cup]] career in 1999 at a young age of 15, when he lost to Portuguese player [[João Cunha Silva]]. He played an important role in the [[Croatia Davis Cup team]] that reached Euro/African Group I in 2002, and the World Group from 2003–2006, and also in 2009. He was part of the Croatian team that won the [[2005 Davis Cup]] title. In singles, his major wins came against [[Michal Mertiňák]] in 2005, when Croatia played a decisive fifth match against Slovakia for the title, and against [[Simone Bolelli]] in 2008, when Croatia defeated Italy for the World Group play-offs. In doubles, his major wins include beating the United States team of [[Bob and Mike Bryan]] in the United States in 2005, and the Austrian Team of [[Julian Knowle]] and [[Jürgen Melzer]] in Austria in 2006, all with [[Ivan Ljubičić]]. Paired with Ljubičić, he holds six wins and one loss in the Davis Cup doubles matches. ===Retirement=== On February 21, 2011, Ančić announced his retirement from professional tennis due to recurring mononucleosis. He ended his career with three titles, 208 wins and 135 losses. On February 23, 2011, with tears in his eyes Ančić held an emotional press conference at the ''Firule'' tennis club, where he officially retired from professional tennis. He stated that; ''"Heart wanted, but body couldn't, this is the toughest moment of my life. I have never ran away from responsibility. I always strived for perfection, and when I realized that my body cannot provide the kind of tennis I can play, there was no other solution".'' ==External links== {{Persondata |NAME= Ancic, Mario |ALTERNATIVE NAMES= |SHORT DESCRIPTION= |DATE OF BIRTH= 1984-03-30 |PLACE OF BIRTH= [[Split (city)|Split]], [[SR Croatia]], [[SFR Yugoslavia]] |DATE OF DEATH= |PLACE OF DEATH= | NAME= Ancic, Mario | DATE OF BIRTH= 1984-03-30 | PLACE OF BIRTH= [[Split (city)|Split]], [[SR Croatia]], [[SFR Yugoslavia]] }} {{DEFAULTSORT:Ancic, Mario}}