Patrick Rafter is glad that Goran Ivanisevic was not screwed for him
The 2001 Wimbledon final was one of the most legendary - for a variety of reasons. Among other things, because Goran Ivanisevic was finally able to celebrate his longed-for victory on the Sacred Lawn.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: Jul 12, 2020, 01:23 pm
Until then, Ivanisevic had been in the Wimbledon final three times, three times he had been short: surprisingly against Andre Agassi in 1992 , not so surprisingly against Pete Sampras in 1994. And again in 1998 against "Pistol Pete", but at that time, although he was mostly the better player. And there was hardly an unhappy looking second winner than Ivanisevic that year ...
Everything was supposed to be different in 2001, in many ways: Ivanisevic was the number 125 in the world thanks to a wildcard, and he really was no longer a possible title contender. He had suffered his most embarrassing defeat the previous year, in Brighton, when he had to give up due to a lack of material - he had destroyed all his rackets in the game. At Wimbledon, however, he refueled through, surviving matches against Juan Carlos Ferrero, Marat Safin and, also thanks to a rain break - against Tim Henman in the semifinals.
That he then won the final against Patrick Rafter - it should have been. At least that's how the Australian sees it. "It was fate for him," said Rafter looking back on The Tennis Podcast . And didn't want to think about what would have happened if Ivanisevic had also lost his fourth Wimbledon final. "Let's say I had won the game, Goran a case for the madhouse - and I was responsible for it," laughed the former world ranking first. "It's okay with me. I won a couple of Grand Slam tournaments (US Open 1997 and 1998, editor's note) , so I'm fine. On the other hand, the selfish part wants the Wimbledon trophy. It would have been great. "
Ivanisevic: "Worst final game in tennis history"
The match between Rafter and Ivanisevic had been postponed to Monday due to rain, the "People Monday", on which all tickets were sold at the box office. The mood was correspondingly exuberant. Even if the match lived mainly from its tension, less from the quality. Especially the final game: Ivanisevic led 6: 3, 3: 6, 6: 3, 2: 6 and 8: 7. And was subsequently involved in "the worst final game in tennis history that two players have ever made," he admitted.
He only won the game because Rafter managed to play even worse than himself. "He was probably shocked by how badly I played." Rafter knew that he would hit the center of the fourth match ball, but pushed the return instead of hitting. "If he had brought him back, I would have spanked him. Or I would have slipped. Something would have happened."
"Goran showed nerves, I just tried to bring back as many balls as possible," Rafter recalled. Ivanisevic had awarded the first two match balls by double error, fending off the third rafter with praise. On the fourth, Rafter's forehand return flew into the net - and Ivanisevic finally had the trophy he had dreamed of for years.
"Of course I wanted to win," said Rafter. "But if there had to be another winner, it was him."