Undoubtedly, Croatia's most famous tennis player – past or present – is Goran Ivanisevic…at least, certainly in the eyes of Wimbledon fans. The lanky Croat reached the final there three times – in 1992 (losing to Andre Agassi), in 1994 and in 1998 (losing to Pete Sampras both times). Finally, in 2001, Ivanisevic won his most coveted title in a truly thrilling final, beating Australian Pat Rafter 6–3, 3–6, 6–3, 2–6, 9–7. Ivanisevic was a wild-card entrant at that year's tournament as he was only ranked at a lowly 125th in the world at the time. Nearly 30 years old, he had also been struggling with a shoulder injury for the preceding few years. He remains the lowest ranked player, and only wild card ever, to win Wimbledon.
Watch a great little video below about the 2001 Final:
Ivanisevic also won 21 other ATP Tour titles during his career, as well as bronze medals in both the mens's singles and doubles tournaments at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, the first Olympics in which Croatia competed.
Of the current crop of players, top in the men's game is 21-year-old Marin Cilic, who is ranked just outside the top ten in the world. Other players include Ivo Karlovic (who is famous for being incredibly tall - 6ft 10!), Mario Ancic (like Goran Ivanisevic, also from Split) and Ivan Ljubicic, who is coming towards the end of his career. Roko Karanusic is ranked just outside the world top 100.
In women's tennis, Croatia doesn't have any top class players at the moment - most successful is Karolina Sprem, who is just inside the world top 100.
Other famous players in the past include Iva Majoli (who beat Martina Hingis in the 1997 French Open final to win the title) and Mirjana Lucic.
