Goran Ivanišević, the man who made Split burn like never before on July 10, 2001, in the second part of the show (Un)success of the Champion, spoke about exactly what led him to the Wimbledon crown 24 years ago - the fact that he never gave up.
"Anyone who wants to be an athlete must be prepared for falls, for sacrifices, and must be prepared to make mistakes. You must not hesitate to make a mistake, because then you will surely make too many," the tennis legend said on the show hosted this year by Slaven Bilić, a former Croatian national team player and coach.
Bilić pointed out that his first association with tennis is loneliness.
"I wish I had online education at that time, if I could have had a laptop, because I had a lot of time and nothing to do," Ivanišević replied.
A champion is a champion
Solitude started very early, and expectations were immediately highest.
"Who asked me at 15 or 17 if I felt pressure? Nobody, it was just: Come on, go and play. Now everything is - is this too much for him, will he... There's too much to watch out for. That's why there are rankings, that's why there are who will be champions and who won't. Simply put, you can see who can handle the pressure, who can 'take the hits'. You have to take it a few times, you'll fall, but that one will rise, that one will be good. I repeat, if you're afraid of making mistakes - you'll make them and you won't succeed," Ivanišević is clear.
Times are not the same, but...
"A champion is a champion. A champion is born once in a hundred thousand years, like Novak Djokovic, like Luka Modric in football... Who asked him if it was hard for him? It was hard for him, of course it was, everyone has a hard time at some point."
In this part too, he spoke about his collaboration with Djokovic.
"It was phenomenal for me. These are things you can never forget - and if I didn't do anything in tennis anymore, I was part of the greatest, the greatest in history and all those records... If I had just sat there, waved and carried the rackets, I would have done something again," Ivanišević said clearly.
He also recalled his performance at the Olympic Games where he carried the Croatian flag, played four matches in five sets and gave his all to bring home two bronze medals from Barcelona in 1992. Although physically exhausted, mentally he did not give up.
"There was no fatigue. I'm dead, but not... I simply had to win that medal. We also played doubles. We lost in five sets in the semifinals - we could have at least won silver."
Son of the best Croatian junior
Bilić and Ivanišević also touched on the topic of parents and their role in children's sports development. Ivanišević noted that today's children "jump" from one sport to another, and parents follow them, which often leads to a loss of focus.
"The parent has to be the one who says: Come on, let's calm down, let's go for at least two months... I know the name of every coach I've had since I was eight years old, what their first name is, what their last name is, and what they taught me. Now if you ask a child, they have no idea who their coach is, they don't even know their name because they know that in a month when that coach 'squeezes' them a little, they'll be like: Oh, you can't talk to my child like that, we're changing coaches. Coaches change like on a treadmill," says Ivanišević.
His son, 17-year-old Emanuel Ivanišević, recorded his first victory in his senior career a few days ago.
"I'm there for logistics, whatever he needs, I help him. He's currently the best Croatian junior and honestly, there's no magic, crystal ball for what's going to happen in his life and how he'll do in tennis. I'm always there for everything. I think parents should be there, they shouldn't force it, but they should be there. So I want to be his father more. I want us to have a father-son relationship. If he needs advice - I'm here, but to coach him in life, I would never, because I've seen a lot of cases that didn't end well, sooner or later, especially in tennis."
Hajduk is not a fan - Hajduk is loved and lived.
Ivanišević loves all sports, and for a short time he also trained at Hajduk while Slaven was the coach.
"The best few weeks for me were in 1997 - my arm was a little sore, it was the end of the year, and Hajduk allowed me to train with the juniors. I enjoyed it - those were unforgettable moments of my life."
Why Hajduk?
It is in the blood of those born in Split. You don't cheer for Hajduk - you love and live for Hajduk. I love football, I prefer 'ball' perhaps even more than tennis. I'm not the kind of person who only watches when the national team plays - I watch everything, from the first to the third league, wherever our team plays. I simply love football," concluded the legendary Split native.
If you missed the first part of the show with Ivanišević, you can watch it in the video below.
Bonus video:
