Wimbledon winner Goran Ivanisevic has candidly revealed the negative impact that his rivalry with Pete Sampras had on his life.
Ivanisevic finished with a 6-12 record from the 18 matches he played against Sampras, which spanned from 1990 and 1999.
After winning five of his first seven encounters with Sampras, the Croatian was beaten in 10 of the last 11 matches that the duo played.
Three of Ivanisevic’s losses to Sampras came at Wimbledon: a straight-set final in 1994, a five-set semi-final in 1995, and a five-set final in 1998. He also fell to the American in a four-set 1996 US Open semi-final.
In an interview with Sportal, Ivanisevic admitted he cannot forgive 14-time Grand Slam winner Sampras for the pain he inflicted on court.
“Sampras. That man destroyed a lot of my life. Dreams, sleep, nerves. I can’t forgive him for that,” said Ivanisevic.
On a podcast with former Croatian footballer Slaven Bilic earlier this year, Ivanisevic revealed that his 7-6(2), 6-7(9), 4-6, 6-3, 2-6 loss to Sampras in the 1998 Wimbledon title match derailed his career.
“My career was solid, but the biggest drop, when everything started going downhill, was in 1998,” said the former world No 2.
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“I was in Wimbledon, I played the final, and that final broke me. It crushed me because I truly believe I was the better player, I played better, I should have won, and I didn’t.
“From that moment on, everything started going downhill.”
However, Ivanisevic chose his five-set loss to Andre Agassi in the 1992 Wimbledon final as the one match he wishes he could play again.
“’92 [Wimbledon final] because if I had won that final I think everything would have opened up for me,” the Croatian explained.
“It would have given me more strength, more confidence and I would have been a better player. I believe I would have reached another Grand Slam, maybe I would have even made world number one.
“’92 still stings, that Wimbledon final, I was the absolute favourite. I had beaten [Ivan] Lendl, [Stefan] Edberg and Sampras and then I lost in five sets to Agassi.
“No one thought I would lose, not even me, but now, thanks to social media, you can go back and watch those matches, so I watched them back, and honestly, he deserved to win that day. He played better.
“It was like I didn’t believe in myself that day, I didn’t play the way that I should have at that level. That is the Wimbledon final, it’s like the World Cup final; you have to bring your best; otherwise, the other guy will.”
At the 2001 Wimbledon Championships, Ivanisevic won his only Grand Slam title in fairytale fashion as a 125th-ranked wildcard.
Ivanisevic coached Novak Djokovic between 2019 and 2024 and helped the great Serbian win nine of his 24 Grand Slam titles. He coached compatriot Marin Cilic to the 2014 US Open title, while he has also worked with Elena Rybakina, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Milos Raonic and Tomas Berdych.
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