He is best remembered for winning the men's singles title at Wimbledon in 2001 (having previously been runner-up at the championships in 1992, 1994 and 1998). Ivani�ević has also played football for the Croatian team Hajduk Split in 2001.

Goran Ivanisević's name is synonymous with his strong serve, which is one of the greatest to date. His career-high singles ranking was World No. 2 (behind Pete Sampras) in 1994.

Ivani�ević turned professional in 1988, and won his first career doubles title later that year in Frankfurt (with R�diger Haas).

Ivani�ević made his first significant impact on the tennis world in 1990. In the French Open, he knocked-out Boris Becker in the first round of the men's singles and went on to reach the quarter-finals. Becker reportedly remarked about Ivanisevic that "even God could not have played any better". He was also runner-up in the French Open men's doubles (with Petr Korda). A few weeks later at Wimbledon, Ivani�ević made it all the way to the semi-finals, where he again met Becker and put up an impressive display before going down in four sets. Becker predicted after the match Ivani�ević would be a future Wimbledon champion. Ivani�ević also won his tour first singles title in 1990 at Stuttgart, and helped Yugoslavia win the World Team Cup.

Ivani�ević quickly became known on the tour for his strong, attacking style of play and for an extremely powerful serve. For several years, he was the leading scorer of aces on the tour. A brilliant player, who was capable of beating anyone in the world when he was at his very best, he was also known for occasional on-court temper tantrums and, from time-to-time, for "tanking" in matches (particularly in final sets) and being blown away by opponents he should have been capable of beating.

Ivani�ević lost in the second round at Wimbledon in 1991 and courted controversy during the championships by not only expressing his strong Croatian patriotic sentiments during the period of independence from Yugoslavia, but also urging the top women's player Monica Seles (a Serbia-born ethnic Hungarian) to publicly express her stance, which she refused to do.

Olympic medal record
Men's Tennis
Bronze 1992 Barcelona Singles
Bronze 1992 Barcelona Doubles
In 1992 Ivani�ević reached the Wimbledon singles final, where he faced Andre Agassi. Both up-and-coming stars were gunning for their first Grand Slam title. In a dramatic five-set encounter, it was Agassi who eventually won 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4. Later that summer, at the Olympic Games in Barcelona, Ivani�ević won Bronze Medals in both singles and doubles for the newly-independent nation of Croatia. He also won four singles titles that year.

Ivani�ević reached the Wimbledon final for the second time in 1994, where he faced defending-champion Pete Sampras. Ivani�ević put up a strong fight in the first two sets, but was then blown away in third as Sampras won 7-6, 7-6, 6-0. Ivani�ević reached his career-high singles ranking of World No. 2 in July that year.

In 1995, Ivani�ević won the Grand Slam Cup, beating Todd Martin in the final 7-6, 6-3, 6-4. Continuing his strong performances at the Wimbledon tournament, he would reach the semifinals that year, losing to Pete Sampras in a hard fought five set match, 7-6 4-6 6-3 4-6 6-3.

1996 was a strong year for Ivani�ević as he won a career-best five singles titles. He reached the Grand Slam Cup final again, but this time lost to Becker in straight sets. He set a tour record by serving 1,477 aces over the course of the season. Ivani�ević also teamed-up with Iva Majoli to win the 1996 Hopman Cup for Croatia. Ivani�ević would also reach his first Grand Slam semifinal other than Wimbledon at the U.S. Open that year, falling once again to Pete Sampras in four sets.

In 1998, Ivani�ević reached his third Wimbledon final. He faced Sampras again and pushed him to five sets before losing a closely-fought contest 6-7, 7-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2. After three final defeats, many people wondered if the man often touted as a future Wimbledon winner would ever fulfill his promise.

Ivani�ević finished runner-up in the French Open men's doubles in 1999 (with Jeff Tarango). However for much of 1999, 2000 and 2001, he struggled with a shoulder injury and his performance and world ranking began to steadily slide.

In the summer of 2001, Ivani�ević was ranked the World No. 125. This was not good enough to earn him an automatic place in the main draw at Wimbledon but, given his past record as a three-time finalist, the organizers decided to give him a wildcard entry. Against all expectations, he powered his way through the draw to reach the final, setting-up a showdown the previous year's runner-up and former US Open champion Patrick Rafter. (It was the first singles final which Ivani�ević had qualified for since 1998.) In an epic struggle lasting three hours and one minute, Ivani�ević out-lasted Rafter to win in five sets 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 2-6, 9-7. Just two months shy of his 30th birthday, Ivani�ević became the lowest-ranked player and the first wildcard entry to win Wimbledon.[1]

Ivani�ević received the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Overseas Personality Award in 2001.