Mario Ančić

Mario Ančić (Croatian pronunciation: [mâːrio âːntʃitɕ];[3][4] born 30 March 1984) is a Croatian former professional tennis player who currently works as an investment banker in New York City.[5] He won three singles titles and five doubles titles. His career-high singles ranking came during the 2006 ATP Tour, when he reached world no. 7. Ančić helped Croatia to win the 2005 Davis Cup and at the Athens Olympic Games in 2004, he and Ivan Ljubičić won a bronze medal in doubles for Croatia.

Mario Ančić
Ančić at Canada Masters, July 2008
Country (sports) Croatia
ResidenceNew York City, New York, United States[1]
Born (1984-03-30) 30 March 1984
Split,[2] SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia
Height1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)
Turned pro2001
Retired2011
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money$4,024,686
Singles
Career record208–135
Career titles3
Highest rankingNo. 7 (10 July 2006)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open4R (2003, 2007)
French OpenQF (2006)
WimbledonSF (2004)
US Open2R (2005)
Other tournaments
Tour FinalsAlt (2006)
Olympic Games1R (2004)
Doubles
Career record68–42
Career titles5
Highest rankingNo. 47 (14 June 2004)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open2R (2004)
French Open3R (2004)
Wimbledon1R (2003)
US OpenQF (2003)
Team competitions
Davis CupW (2005)
Medal record
Olympic Games
2004 Athens Doubles
Last updated on: 5 July 2017.

As a teenager making his Grand Slam debut at the 2002 Wimbledon Championships, he defeated seventh-seeded Roger Federer. His best performance at Grand Slams came at the 2004 Wimbledon Championships, when he reached the semifinals.

During 2007 and 2008, mononucleosis and minor injuries forced him to miss many major events, and his ranking dropped from No. 9 in January 2007 to No. 135 in January 2008.[6][7]

Personal life

Ančić was born in Split to Stipe and Nilda Ančić. His father owns a supermarket chain, and his mother is a financial adviser. His older brother Ivica and younger sister Sanja were also professional tennis players. Ančić was raised in a Catholic family and states that his faith is very important to him. He is very close to his uncle who is a priest and former missionary.[8][9]

From 2002 to 2008, Ančić was a law student at the University of Split; he graduated from its law school on 14 April 2008. His thesis described the legal foundation and organisation of the ATP Tour.[10]

Illness forced Ančić to be off courts in much of the 2009 tennis season, and he started his residency in the law office of Turudić in Zagreb;[11] but he announced he would freeze his residency for some time due to his tennis career. After attending Harvard Law, he graduated with an LLM from Columbia Law School. He became an investment banking associate at Credit Suisse;[12] as of 2019 he is an Associate at One Equity Partners in New York City.[5]

Tennis career

Early career (2000–2002)

As a junior, Ančić rose to No. 1 in the junior world-rankings on 2 January 2001, compiling a singles record of 62–20. He made the finals in the Boys' Singles at the 2000 Australian Open (losing to Andy Roddick) and the 2000 Wimbledon Championships (losing to Nicolas Mahut).

Goran Ivanišević was his doubles partner in his Croatian Davis Cup Team debut and at the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in doubles. At first, Ančić mostly played Futures and Davis Cup tournaments, winning one title in Zagreb; and from August 2001 he started to play Challenger tournaments, winning four in singles and one in doubles. He compiled a record of 30–16 in Challenger play in 2002.

ATP Tour career (2002–2005)

His ATP debut was at Miami Masters, where he drew a wild card, but he lost in the opening round.[13] The highlight of his Grand Slam debut at the 2002 Wimbledon Championships was the major upset of his first round defeat of Roger Federer, the seventh seed, 6–3, 7–6(2), 6–3 in just under two hours.[14] He finished the 2002 season in the top 100 in singles.

Goran Ivanišević and Mario Ančić playing doubles during the 2004 Queen's Club Championships

At the ATP Indesit Milano Indoor in February 2004, Ančić made it into his first singles ATP final, defeating sixth seed Rafael Nadal and third seed Tommy Robredo. At the 2004 Wimbledon Championships, Ančić had his best Grand Slam result, reaching the semi-finals. In reaching the Grand Slam semi-finals, he jumped 36 places on the ATP singles ranking to No. 27.[15] In doubles, he teamed up with Ivan Ljubičić, and represented Croatia at the 2004 Summer Olympics. They won a bronze medal, losing to González and Nicolás Massú in the semi-final. He won his first ATP singles title at the Ordina Open. His 2005 highlights also include the final at the Japan Open Tennis Championships, losing to Wesley Moodie.

Career apex (2006)

Ančić started on the 2006 ATP Tour with strong note in his second tournament of the year in Auckland, where he defeated top seed Fernando González on his way to the final. In February, he also reached the final in Marseille, losing to Arnaud Clément. He made in the quarter-finals at two Masters and two Grand Slams tournaments. Ančić was defeated by David Nalbandian at Miami and Rome and by Roger Federer at the French Open and Wimbledon. He also reached his career high at Master Series event, reaching the semi-finals at Hamburg Masters. Ančić successfully defended his 2005 title at ‘s-Hertogenbosch. After Wimbledon, Ančić reached No. 7, his career high in singles.[16]

At the 2006 French Open, he had a shoving incident with Paul Capdeville at the end of his second-round match. Ančić was bothered by the Chilean's repeated complaints to the chair umpire, including just before the post-match handshake. Both of them were fined $3,000.[17][18] He reached the quarter-finals before losing to Federer.

Ančić missed the U.S. hard-court season due to a knee injury received in a jet skiing accident. In September, in the first event after the summer injuries, he reached the final at the China Open, losing to Marcos Baghdatis. In October, he won his third singles title at the St. Petersburg Open. At the Paris Masters, Ančić lost to Nikolay Davydenko in the quarterfinals.

Mononucleosis, and return to the Tour (2007–2010)

He entered the 2007 Australian Open as the ninth seed, and advanced to a fourth round.

In Marseille, Ančić retired in the first round and was diagnosed with mononucleosis.[19] Later, he confessed that he was playing sick a week before in a match against Germany in the Davis Cup, and the virus had started to affect him at the Australian Open.[20] Due to his illness, Ančić spent most of the next 10 weeks in bed[21] and missed six months from the tour.

Ančić started training in June with his Swedish coach Fredrik Rosengren.[21] After he withdrew from two tournaments in July, Ančić returned in August at the Canada Masters and the Cincinnati Masters, where he lost in the second rounds. Ančić fractured a small bone at the gym a week before the US Open, which was the third Grand Slam he missed in 2007.[20] In October, he made his first big result after the illness, making it into the quarterfinals at Madrid Masters. In 2007, he dropped to No. 83 at the end of the year.[7]

Ančić hitting a backhand at the 2008 Indian Wells Masters

Ančić started the 2008 season again with illness and was forced to withdraw from the tournaments in Australia, missing his fourth Grand Slam in a row.[22] His first 2008 event was in Marseille in February, where he eventually lost in the final to Andy Murray. At the Indian Wells Masters and Miami Masters, Ančić entered the main draw by receiving wild cards, where he beat three seeded players.

Having lost in an opening round at the Canada Masters, and having skipped the Cincinnati Masters as the fatigue intensified and the weight loss mounted, Ančić withdrew from the 2008 Summer Olympics,[23] and later the US Open, due to a recurrence of mononucleosis.[24] Ančić returned in September, playing for the Davis Cup. After a good start at the beginning of the 2009 season, Ančić announced in May that he would pull out of the French Open, Wimbledon, and the Davis Cup semifinal match, again because recurrence of mononucleosis.[25][26]

Ančić returned to the main tour level at the 2010 BNP Paribas Open, where he made it to the third round. He played Challengers without success.

Retirement

On 21 February 2011, Ančić announced his retirement from professional tennis due to recurring mononucleosis. He ended his career with three titles, 208 wins and 135 losses.[27] On 23 February 2011, Ančić held a press conference at the Firule tennis club, where he officially retired from professional tennis. He stated that; "[My] heart wanted, but [my] body couldn't, this is the toughest moment of my life. I have never run away from responsibility. I always strived for perfection, and when I realized that my body cannot provide the kind of tennis I can play, there was no other solution".[28][29]

Ancic will be helping to coach Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon 2017.

Significant finals

Olympics medal matches

Doubles: 1 (1 bronze medal)
Result Year Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Bronze 2004 Athens, Greece Hard Ivan Ljubicic Mahesh Bhupathi
Leander Paes		 7–6(7–5), 4–6, 16–14

ATP Tour titles

Singles titles (3)
Legend (pre/post 2009)
Grand Slam tournaments (0)
Tennis Masters Cup /
ATP World Tour Finals (0)
ATP Masters Series /
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0)
ATP International Series Gold /
ATP World Tour 500 Series (0)
ATP International Series /
ATP World Tour 250 Series (3)
Titles by surface
Hard (0)
Clay (0)
Grass (2)
Carpet (1)
Result W/L Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Win 1. Jun 2005 ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands Grass Michaël Llodra 7–5, 6–4
Win 2. Jun 2006 ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands Grass Jan Hernych 6–0, 5–7, 7–5
Win 3. Oct 2006 St. Petersburg, Russia Carpet (i) Thomas Johansson 7–5, 7–6(7–2)

Doubles titles (5)
No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents in the final Score
1. Jul 2003 Indianapolis, United States Hard Andy Ram Diego Ayala &
Robby Ginepri		 2–6, 7–6(7–3), 7–5
2. Apr 2005 Munich, Germany Clay Julian Knowle Florian Mayer &
Alexander Waske		 6–3, 1–6, 6–3
3. Sep 2006 Beijing, China Hard Mahesh Bhupathi Michael Berrer &
Kenneth Carlsen		 6–4, 6–3
4. Sep 2006 Mumbai, India Hard Mahesh Bhupathi Rohan Bopanna &
Mustafa Ghouse		 6–4, 6–7(6–8), [10–8]
5. Jun 2008 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands Grass Jürgen Melzer Mahesh Bhupathi &
Leander Paes		 7–6(7–5), 6–3

Singles finalist (8)

Singles performance timeline
Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# A NH
(W) Won; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent; (NH) not held. SR=strike rate (events won/competed)
Tournament199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010Career
SR		Career Win-Loss
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open A A A A 4R 3R 3R 3R 4R A 3R A 0 / 6 14–6
French Open A A A LQ 2R 3R 3R QF A 3R A A 0 / 5 12–5
Wimbledon A A A 2R 1R SF 4R QF A QF A A 0 / 6 17–6
U.S. Open A A A 1R 1R 1R 2R A A A A A 0 / 4 1–4
Grand Slam SR 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 2 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 3 0 / 1 0 / 2 0 / 1 0 / 0 0 / 21 N/A
Grand Slam Win-Loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 1–2 4–4 9–4 8–4 10–3 3–1 6–2 2–1 0–0 N/A 43–21
Olympic Games
Summer Olympics NH A Not Held 1R Not Held A Not Held 0 / 1 0–1
ATP Masters Series
Indian Wells Masters A A A A 1R 1R 2R 4R A 3R 2R 3R 0 / 7 6–7
Miami Masters A A A 1R 1R LQ 4R QF A 4R A 1R 0 / 6 10–6
Monte Carlo Masters A A A A LQ A 2R A A 2R A A 0 / 2 2–2
Rome Masters A A A A LQ 1R 1R QF A 2R A A 0 / 4 4–4
Madrid Masters A A A A A 1R 2R 2R QF A A A 0 / 4 3–4
Hamburg Masters A A A A LQ A 3R SF A A NMS 0 / 2 6–2
Canada Masters A A A A 1R A 3R A 2R 1R A A 0 / 4 3–4
Cincinnati Masters A A A A LQ A 4R A 2R A A A 0 / 2 3–2
Shanghai Masters Not Held A A 0 / 0 0–0
Paris Masters A A A A A 1R 2R QF 2R 2R A A 0 / 5 4–5
Career statistics
Year 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 N/A
ATP Tournaments Played 0 0 0 7 18 22 24 20 10 16 7 3 127
ATP Runners-up 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 3 0 1 1 0 8
ATP Tournaments Won 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 3
Hard Win-Loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 2–6 9–13 6–10 25–15 25–12 12–10 18–7 13–6 2–2 111–80
Clay Win-Loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 3–4 6–6 6–5 13–5 0–0 6–5 0–1 0–1 35–26
Grass Win-Loss 0–0 1–0 0–0 1–1 2–3 10–3 9–2 9–1 0–0 8–3 0–0 0–0 40–13
Carpet Win-Loss 0–1 2–0 1–0 0–0 1–1 5–5 4–5 7–1 1–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 21–14
Overall Win-Loss 0–1 3–0 1–0 3–7 15–21 27–24 44–27 54–19 13–11 32–15 13–7 2–3 208–1351
Win (%) 0% 100% 100% 42% 30% 53% 62% 74% 54% 68% 65% 40% 61%
Year End Ranking 1037 547 294 89 74 29 21 9 85 36 95 478 N/A
  • NMS – from 2009, Hamburg Masters is not Masters Series event
  • Davis Cup and World Team Cup matches are included in the statistics.
  • 1 – before 2002, he had 4–1 (Carpet: 3–1, Grass: 1–0) score in Davis Cup matches.

Challengers and Futures titles (7)

Singles
Legend (Singles)
Challengers (4)
Futures (1)
No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score
1. 21 February 2000 Zagreb, Croatia Clay Ivo Karlović 7–6(14), 6–4
2. 4 February 2002 Belgrade, Yugoslavia Carpet Nenad Zimonjić 6–2, 6–3
3. 18 November 2002 Prague, Czech Republic Carpet Jérôme Golmard 6–1, 6–1
4. 25 November 2002 Milan, Italy Carpet Gregory Carraz 4–6, 6–3, 7–6(10)
5. 27 January 2003 Hamburg, Germany Carpet Rafael Nadal 6–2, 6–3

Doubles
No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents in the final Score
1. 14 February 2000 Zagreb, Croatia Clay Ivica Ančić Roko Karanušić &
Željko Krajan		 6–4, 5–7, 7–5
2. 17 November 2002 Helsinki, Finland Hard(I) Lovro Zovko Aleksandar Kitinov &
Jim Thomas		 7–6(6), 4–6, 6–3

ATP Tour career earnings
YearMajorsATP winsTotal winsEarnings (US$)Money list rank
2002 0 0 0 101,122[30] 165[30]
2003 0 0 0 277,743[31] 79[31]
2004 0 0 0 579,375[32] 38[32]
2005 0 1 1 702,670[33] 27[33]
2006 0 2 2 1,276,265[34] 9[34]
2007 0 0 0 209,610[35] 146[35]
2008 0 0 0 600,326[36] 44[36]
2009 0 0 0 197,818[37] 133[37]
2010 0 0 0 52,464[38] 284[38]
Career 0 3 3 4,024,686[38]

Top 10 wins
Season199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010Total
Wins00020115211013
# Player Rank Event Surface Rd Score Ančić
Rank
2002
1. Roger Federer 6 Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom Grass 1R 6–3, 7–6(7–2), 6–3 154
2. Yevgeny Kafelnikov 4 Indianapolis, United States Hard 2R 4–6, 6–2, 6–4 129
2004
3. Tim Henman 6 Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom Grass QF 7–6(7–5), 6–4, 6–2 63
2005
4. Tim Henman 7 Rotterdam, Netherlands Hard (i) QF 7–6(7–5), 7–6(7–4) 31
2006
5. Ivan Ljubičić 5 Marseille, France Hard (i) QF 7–6(7–2), 3–6, 6–3 21
6. Nikolay Davydenko 5 Miami, United States Hard 4R 7–5, 6–4 23
7. James Blake 7 Hamburg, Germany Clay 3R 4–6, 7–5, 7–6(7–3) 13
8. Nikolay Davydenko 6 Hamburg, Germany Clay QF 5–7, 7–6(7–4), 6–3 13
9. Tommy Robredo 7 French Open, Paris, France Clay 4R 6–4, 4–6, 2–6, 6–4, 7–5 12
2007
10. Tommy Haas 9 Cincinnati, United States Hard 1R 3–6, 7–6(7–3), 6–3 38
11. James Blake 8 Madrid, Spain Hard (i) 2R 6–3, 6–4 49
2008
12. David Ferrer 5 Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom Grass 3R 6–4, 6–4, 6–7(5–7), 7–6(7–3) 43
2009
13. Gilles Simon 8 Rotterdam, Netherlands Hard (i) 2R 6–4, 3–6, 6–3 28

See also

References
  1. Lattman, Peter (7 September 2012). "Former Tennis Star Makes a Mark at Columbia Law School". DealBook. The New York Times. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
  2. ATP World Tour. "Mario Ancic ATP Page". Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  3. "Màrija". Hrvatski jezični portal (in Serbo-Croatian). Retrieved 17 March 2018. Mȃrio
  4. "Ȁna". Hrvatski jezični portal (in Serbo-Croatian). Retrieved 17 March 2018. Ȃnčić
  5. "Mario Ancic". One Equity Partners. One Equity Partners. 2019. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  6. Ravi Ubha (19 December 2007). "Will injuries, illness allow Ancic to regain top-10 form?". ESPN. Retrieved 17 October 2008.
  7. "Ancic Rankings History – 2007". ATP Tour. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
  8. "Mario Ančić, tenisač". www.velecasnisudac.com (in Croatian). Velečasni Sudac. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011.
  9. "Olympic Bronze Medalist Transformed Through Crucible of Suffering". Retrieved 13 August 2012.
  10. "Ancic Earns Law Degree from University of Split". ATP Tour. 16 April 2008. Archived from the original on 14 May 2008. Retrieved 17 October 2008.
  11. Mario Kuss (4 October 2009). "Ančić: Vraćam se krajem siječnja!" (in Croatian). Večernji list. Retrieved 30 October 2009.
  12. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mario-ancic-587a36112
  13. "2002 Miami Masters Draw". Association of Tennis Professionals. 18 March 2002. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
  14. "Ancic stuns Federer". BBC Sport. 25 June 2002. Retrieved 5 October 2008.
  15. Mario Ancic Rankings History for 2004
  16. "Ancic's rankings in 2006". ATP Tour. 18 December 2006. Retrieved 14 October 2008.
  17. "Despite weather, Federer, Davydenko win". ESPN. 1 June 2006. Retrieved 14 October 2008.
  18. "Henin-Hardenne wins wet one in Paris". The Seattle Times. 2 June 2006. Retrieved 14 October 2008.
  19. "Ancic sidelined with mononucleosis". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. 2 March 2007. Retrieved 17 October 2008.
  20. Atkin, Ronald (8 June 2008). "Super Mario Bros battles past virus to make happy return on grass". The Independent. London. Retrieved 5 October 2008.
  21. Ravi Ubha (19 December 2007). "Will injuries, illness allow Ančić to regain top-10 form?". ESPN. Retrieved 17 October 2008.
  22. "Ancic in doubt for Australian Open because of illness". The International Herald Tribune. 8 January 2008. Retrieved 13 November 2008.
  23. Ravi Ubha (9 October 2008). "Afflicted Ančić can't seem to catch a break". ESPN. Retrieved 17 October 2008.
  24. Ravi Ubha (6 August 2008). "Sports Roundup". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved 17 October 2008.
  25. "Tennis: Unfit Ancic pulls out of French Open". Channel News Asia. 21 May 2009. Retrieved 30 October 2009.
  26. "Mario Ancic to miss Wimbledon and Davis Cup". Daily Times. 6 June 2009. Retrieved 30 October 2009.
  27. "Ancic debió retirarse del tenis" (in Spanish). ESPN Deportes. 21 February 2011.
  28. "Ančić: Srce je željelo, ali tijelo nije, ovo mi je najteži trenutak u životu!". www.jutarnji.hr (in Croatian). Jutarnji list.
  29. "EMOTIVAN OPROŠTAJ Mario Ančić: Ovo mi je najteži trenutak u životu!". www.jutarnji.hr (in Croatian). Slobodna Dalmacija.
  30. "ATP Prize Money for 12/09/02". Archived from the original (TXT) on 4 December 2008. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
  31. "ATP Prize Money for 12/15/03". Archived from the original (TXT) on 29 January 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
  32. "ATP Prize Money for 12/13/04". Archived from the original (TXT) on 27 January 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
  33. "ATP Prize Money for 12/19/05". Archived from the original (TXT) on 26 January 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
  34. "ATP Prize Money for 12/18/06". Archived from the original (TXT) on 7 June 2009. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
  35. "ATP Prize Money for 12/24/07". Archived from the original (TXT) on 3 January 2010. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
  36. "ATP Prize Money for 12/29/2008". Archived from the original (TXT) on 27 August 2009. Retrieved 5 February 2009.
  37. "ATP Prize Money for 12/28/2009". Archived from the original (TXT) on 7 March 2010. Retrieved 26 March 2010.
  38. "ATP Prize Money for 12/27/2010". Archived from the original (TXT) on 19 August 2012. Retrieved 24 November 2012.
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