While America woke up, ate breakfast and commuted to work on Monday, Goran Ivanisevic was just finishing a masterpiece on the fabled lawn courts at Wimbledon, accentuating the best aspects of sport and hitching his name to a star that most people thought had burned out long ago.
With the hard serving Croat's victory over Australia's Patrick Rafter, Ivanisevic became the first wildcard entry to ever win at Wimbledon. The underdog also shocked everyone in the tennis community by beating all odds on the way to his first grand slam title, having previously lost three finals at the All-England club, and having suffered from major shoulder injuries that caused him to fall from a No. 2 to No. 125 world ranking.
Two points away from defeat, Ivanisevic recovered to beat Rafter 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 2-6, 9-7, serving a tournament record 213 aces. Yes, it is a great story that Goran battled back from a shoulder injury that most thought would end his career, and after falling from a Wimbledon finalist in 1998 to a nobody expected to lose by the end of the fortnight's first week, ultimately triumphed. But, additionally, Ivanisevic took a moment in which, after a lifetime of work, he was entitled to a moment of greed to savor his victory, and turned it into a group tribute.
Playing the final points of the match with tears in his eyes, Ivanisevic fell to the ground crying when the final point went his way, but then got up to honor his foe with a long hug despite his flowing tears. He then ran into the stands to find his teacher and father, Srdjan.
"We won together," Ivanisevic said in an Associated Press report. "I played on the court, but he was the big support and he always believed I could do it."
Ivanisevic did not stop there, however, but continued the tribute to all those who have inspired him, most of all by dedicating his victory to his long time friend and former NBA player Drazen Petrovic, who died in a car accident after the 1992 Olympic Games.
Though it would have been great to see the American Pete Sampras continue his dominance at Wimbledon with an eighth title, Ivanisevic makes a most regal champion. Representing a country still recovering from the devastation of Yugoslavia's civil war, a family who stood by him when his career was in shambles, and a friend who died before he could fully enjoy the benefits of his talents, Ivanisevic was able to make up for a career of disappointments by winning a tournament that he believed he was destined to win.
Perhaps Ivanisevic was destined, since it essentially took a favor by the authorities at Wimbledon to award him a wild card berth and get him into the field to begin with.
It was Ivanisevic's work, however, that brought him back to Center Court, including a thrilling semifinal win against Britain's own Tim Henman. Three times before he had been bested in finals, but this time he won, not as the No. 2 player in the tournament--projected to reach the final as he had been in the past--but as the No. 125, projected to lose his first match and return to Croatia before the first weekend of the fortnight arrived.
It is said that America loves an underdog. With that in mind, maybe Ivanisevic can make things interesting in August at the U.S. Open and take another step on his mostly unlikely path of a champion.