Unseeded Croatian Goran Ivanisevic has made it into the Wimbledon semi-finals after beating fourth seed Marat Safin 7-6 7-5 3-6 7-6. Ivanisevic, who was given a wild card invite to this year's tournament, hit 30 aces to add to his tournament tally of 120 during the dramatic four-set contest that lasted two hours 25 minutes and thrilled the crowds at Centre Court.
Although Ivanisevic enjoyed the better start and used his serve to good effect in taking the opening set with a 7-2 advantage in the tie-break, the Russian came more into the match as it progressed. However, despite some trouble in his left shoulder for which he received some painkillers, the Croat held on with ease and in the 11th game made the crucial break of serve that would secure him the second set.
However, Safin finally made some leeway in the third set when Ivanisevic's serve suddenly let him down. Safin wasted two break points in the in the first game of the set but when the Croat served two double faults in the sixth game, Safin took advantage and secured the vital break, leaving Ivanisevic with a tough battle on his hands.
However, he managed to take the vital fourth set to a tie-break but the pressure was obviously getting to him because, with the score at 1-1, he was given a code violation for audible obscenity. But, in the end, his blistering serve saw him through and he won the tie-break 7-3 to set up a semi-final clash with either British number one Tim Henman or Pete Sampras' conqueror Roger Federer. This will be the Croat's sixth semi-final appearance at Wimbledon and his first since 1991.
"This year, I'm playing the best tennis I've ever played at Wimbledon," said Ivanisevic afterwards. "The way I'm serving, and from the back today I just played unbelievable tennis. Now I'm in the semis which is like a dream. I've never been happier in my life. This is maybe the last chance for me. Now I've come so far to stop will be a big disappointment. So I don't want to stop. I want to go further."
Safin is one man who believes Ivanisevic could make history by becoming the first wild card entrant to win at Wimbledon. "He was playing unbelievable, I couldn't do anything special to beat him," said the Russian. "If he plays like he played today, he will not have any problems. The guy doesn't give you any chances. He can't lose this opportunity because I don't think he played this way when he was in the final three times. Now he's playing the best tennis he could play," he added.
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
