&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Meet the only wildcard entrant who won men's singles Wimbledon championship; lost three finals before triumph")
The Wimbledon men’s singles final will be a mouth-watering prospect as Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz go head-to-head in the summit clash on Sunday (July 13) at the Centre Court. While the latest chapter will be written at the Centre Court, Goran Ivanišević scripted history at SW19 in 2001 when he won the title. However, that title went down into the history books as he became the only wildcard Wimbledon entrant to win the Championship.
Goran Ivanišević’s early years
Ranked as one of the best players in the world, Ivanišević achieved the highest ranking of second in 1994. However, despite his good form, he was left short of winning a major slam with Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi dominating the courts all over the world. Ivanišević would struggle to get beyond the quarterfinal stage of a major slam, but it was the Wimbledon he brought his A-game.
The Croatian reached the 1992, 1994, and 1998 Wimbledon singles final but would fall short at the last hurdle. He lost to the likes of Agassi and Sampras with the latter beating him twice. The dream of winning a major title looked distinct for him when the unprecedented story unfolded.
The Goran Ivaniševic story in 2001
Sitting with an ATP ranking of 125, the Croatian was out of qualification contention and needed a wildcard to enter the Wimbledon Championship. Having received a wildcard, little was expected of Ivanišević as he took to the court. However, his run went into the history books as he would register wins after wins and at 29 he reached was bidding for yet another Wimbledon title, his fourth final having lost the previous three.
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He defeated former and future world No. 1 players Carlos Moyá, Andy Roddick and Marat Safin as well as Fredrik Jonsson and Greg Rusedski to reach the semifinal, beating home favourite Tim Henman in a five-set, rain-affected semifinal played over three days (7–5, 6–7, 0–6, 7–6, 6–3), considered a classic.
It was Ivanišević's first singles final since the 1998 Wimbledon final. In a match lasting over three hours, Ivanišević defeated Rafter 6–3, 3–6, 6–3, 2–6, 9–7. Two months shy of his 30th birthday, Ivanišević became the lowest-ranked player and the first wild card entry to win the Wimbledon singles title.
