Ivan Ljubičić (born March 19, 1979) is a Croatian
tennis player. His career-high ATP Entry ranking was
No. 3, and his current Entry list ranking is No. 23
(as of March 2008).
Tall and powerfully built, he is noted for his
strong serve and has achieved his best results in
indoor tournaments played on carpet or hardcourt. He
uses a one-handed backhand and often plays from the
baseline. Ljubičić is using the Head Microgel
Extreme Pro Racquet, after using the Babolat Pure
Drive for most of his professional career.
Ljubičić currently serves as the ATP Player Council
president, and has strongly voiced his opinion on
many issues, such as the possible downgrading of
current Masters Series tournaments in Monte Carlo
and Hamburg.
Ljubičić and Mario Ančić are the only doubles team
to ever defeat Bob and Mike Bryan in Davis Cup
history. Ljubičić helped Croatia win the 2005 Davis
Cup, where they triumphed over the Slovakian Davis
Cup team in the final.
Ljubičić was born in Banja Luka, Yugoslavia (now
Bosnia and Herzegovina), to a Bosniak mother, named
Hazira and Bosnian Croat father, named Marko. He
started playing tennis as a child in 1988, and he
soon won his first local awards as a junior. In May
1992, because of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina,
the Ljubičić family left Banja Luka, and Ivan, his
mother and his brother moved to Opatija, Croatia,
while his father was unable to leave. In November
1992, they were reunited and moved to Rijeka. Ivan
Ljubičić has been married, since 2004, to his
longtime girlfriend from Rijeka.
Soon after, in April 1993, Ljubičić went to a tennis
club in Moncalieri near Torino, Italy. During the
next three years, Ljubičić grew into a promising
prospect. He decided to play for Croatia and in 1995
won his first junior championship - he became the
Croatian under-16 champion. The same year, he won
his first ATP points, and played for the Croatian
team in the Winter Cup (European under-16 indoors
championship). Pairing up with Željko Krajan, he won
the Orange Bowl (the unofficial world under-16
championship).
In 1996, the family moved to Zagreb, while Ivan
continued his successes. He joined the tennis club
Mladost and played in more and more junior ITF
tournaments. His biggest success as a junior was the
final of Wimbledon where he was defeated by Vladimir
Voltchkov of Belarus. He also played in the
Australian Open junior semifinal in 1997, and won
the Eddie Harre tournament, which made him the
number 2 junior in the world. In early 1997 he
started being trained by the Italian professional
coach Riccardo Piatti. His successes continued:
quarterfinal of junior French Open, and entering
into the professional tennis.
