ALL
NEW GORANISMSALL
NEW GORANISMS"I was down to just one pair of shoes and asked my manager to get me some extra, but they didn't arrive yet," he said. "I don't know what I'm going to do, but in any case, I must play a lot better if I want to win tomorrow." [ Goran, after he broke one shoe during his match, and didn't have a spare ]
"I have a good record against him, I beat him here and I beat him again in New Haven this year in two sets, but with Yevgeny you never know what he is going to do," [ Goran, speaking about Kafelnikov.......kinda ironic huh? ]
"It's strange to play in that tent -- it's so noisy you can't hear anything," "It is so hard to concentrate... I was looking at the tent and expecting it to blow down." [ Goran on the London Indoor tournament ]
"I might play in another final there and don't want that stupid (runner's up) plate for a fourth time. I am going to win Wimbledon one day -- even if it is the over 40s doubles ..."
"I will donate $50 to charity for every ace I serve. I hope I serve a lot of aces. Any waythat we can raise money is good. Anything that helps kids is nice," "Maybe I should give another $50 for every racquet I break!"
I'm like (Anna) Kournikova hitting 20 double-faults a match.
He's a contradiction in many ways. [Brett ]
I think it's interesting, you have three movies in one match: horror, comedy, drama. It's fun. I enjoy it. I am like that. I don't like to change. And if I could choose, I would be the same again. just me, and I like who I am.
Goran Ivanisevic on how and why he learnt to speak English: "When I was in the school, you know, I had to work, because I had to pass my English tests, that's why I was learning English. And slowly, you know, and then I start to play tournaments and I had to speak something and no one speaks Croatian."
A reporter asked Ivanisevic whether his Tuesday
loss to Byron Black could be attributed to jetlag incurred as a result
of flying from Los Angeles to Montreal. Ivanisevic responded: "No, my brain
is jet lagged for the last eight months."
"The way I played today I should go to jail," - Ivanisevic on losing to Chang at Shanghai
Goran Ivanisevic, on whether Europeans follow baseball:
"In Europe, nobody cares about baseball. It's big just here in the States. I'm following the guy (Mark McGwire) only because he is hitting the home runs. Now he has one more to break the record, so it's interesting. Otherwise, no way I'm going to watch that."
Ivanisevic, on why he threw his racket in frustration during his four-set loss to Patrick Rafter:
"It was everything. It was a chance to get me back into the match. I hit a couple of good returns (in the fourth set) and that was the chance, you know. Then I came up with three bad returns -- two mis-hits completely, one backhand. At 4-1, he's pumped. Then I got the penalty point."
Agassi, on fellow player Goran Ivanisevic:
"You know, I haven't had the luxury of going out with Goran or spending time away from the courts. But one of the things that I've always admired about him is just what a gentleman and what a sweet person he is every single day. He's up-and-down on the court -- you've seen that throughout his career -- but one of the things that amazes me more than anything, than the personalities on the court is how they are off the court.
"(Ivan) Lendl would sit around the locker room completely naked with just his shoes on telling jokes all day. I couldn't figure out why he'd want to do that but that's how he liked to spend his time in there. Goran is one of the most consistent human beings I've seen, just always nice, always pleasant, always smiling, always saying hello."
His rules for success
"I am very superstitious. For example, when we have a change-over on court, I always try to make sure that I am the first one to get up."
"If I am not, I tell myself that I am not allowed to step on any lines. But I also have certain things I do off-court. For example, after I won a match at a tournament I tried to repeat everything I did the day I won, before my next match. I ate the same food, I went to the same restaurant etc. Sometimes it got very boring."
"When I won Rotterdam in 1996, for example, I had dinner (steak and salat) at a restaurant on Sunday night before the tournament. I won my first round match and then went back to the restaurant, sat at the same table, had the same food. I won the tournament and I was very happy, but the best thing was that I could finally eat something else after a week of steak and salat for dinner."
"It is like a good car. If you do not put oil in the engine blows. I have to put some oil in now so that I can serve."
- Goran Ivanisevic on his sore shoulder
"I hit a lot of forehands because my backhand was like roulette. I did not know where it is going. It is like my golf. I never know where the ball goes."
- Ivanisevic after losing to Karol Kucera in
the final in New Haven