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Mario Ančić
Ancic Toronto Masters 2008.jpg
Ančić at Canada Masters, July 2008
Country (sports)  Croatia
Residence Monte Carlo, Monaco
Born (1984-03-30) 30 March 1984 (age 40)
Split, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)
Turned pro 2001
Retired 2011
Plays Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money $4,024,686
Singles
Career record 208–135 (60.64%)
Career titles 3
Highest ranking No. 7 (10 July 2006)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open 4R (2003, 2007)
French Open QF (2006)
Wimbledon SF (2004)
US Open 2R (2005)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals Alt (2006)
Olympic Games 1R (2004)
Doubles
Career record 68–42
Career titles 5
Highest ranking No. 47 (14 June 2004)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open 2R (2004)
French Open 3R (2004)
Wimbledon 1R (2003)
US Open QF (2003)
Team competitions
Davis Cup W (2005)
Medal record
Olympic Games
Bronze 2004 Athens Doubles

Mario Ančić (Croatian pronunciation: [mâːrio âːntʃitɕ]; born 30 March 1984) is a Croatian former professional tennis player who currently works as a private equity vice president in New York City. 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.

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, infectious 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.

Personal life

Ančić was born in Split, Croatia 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.

Legal and business career

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.

Infectious mononucleosis 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; 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; as of 2019 he is an Associate at One Equity Partners in New York City.

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. 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. He finished the 2002 season in the top 100 in singles.

Ivanisevic Ancic Queens Club 2004
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. 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.

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. 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 infectious mononucleosis (mono). 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. Due to his illness, Ančić spent most of the next 10 weeks in bed and missed six months from the tour.

Ančić started training in June with his Swedish coach Fredrik Rosengren. 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. 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.

Mario Ancic at Indian Wells
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. 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, and later the US Open, due to a recurrence of mononucleosis. 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.

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. 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".

Significant finals

Olympics medal matches

Doubles: 1 (1 bronze medal)

Result Year Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Bronze 2004 Athens, Greece Hard Croatia Ivan Ljubičić India Mahesh Bhupathi
India Leander Paes
7–6(7–5), 4–6, 16–14

ATP career finals

Singles: 11 (3 titles, 8 runner-ups)

Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
ATP World Tour finals (0–0)
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0)
ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–1)
ATP World Tour 250 Series (3–7)
Titles by surface
Hard (0–7)
Clay (0–0)
Grass (2–0)
Carpet (1–1)
Titles by setting
Outdoor (2–3)
Indoor (1–5)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Feb 2004 Milan, Italy International Series Carpet France Antony Dupuis 4–6, 7–6(14–12), 6–7(5–7)
Loss 0–2 Feb 2005 Scottsdale, United States International Series Hard Australia Wayne Arthurs 5–7, 3–6
Win 1–2 Jun 2005 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands International Series Grass France Michaël Llodra 7–5, 6–4
Loss 1–3 Oct 2005 Tokyo, Japan International Gold Hard South Africa Wesley Moodie 6–1, 6–7(7–9), 4–6
Loss 1–4 Jan 2006 Auckland, New Zealand International Series Hard Finland Jarkko Nieminen 2–6, 2–6
Loss 1–5 Feb 2006 Marseille, France International Series Hard France Arnaud Clément 4–6, 2–6
Win 2–5 Jun 2006 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands International Series Grass Czech Republic Jan Hernych 6–0, 5–7, 7–5
Loss 2–6 Sep 2006 Beijing, China International Series Hard Cyprus Marcos Baghdatis 4–6, 0–6
Win 3–6 Oct 2006 St. Petersburg, Russia International Series Carpet Sweden Thomas Johansson 7–5, 7–6(7–2)
Loss 3–7 Feb 2008 Marseille, France International Series Hard United Kingdom Andy Murray 3–6, 4–6
Loss 3–8 Feb 2009 Zagreb, Croatia 250 Series Hard Croatia Marin Čilić 3–6, 4–6

Doubles: 5 (5 titles)

Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
ATP World Tour finals (0–0)
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0)
ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–0)
ATP World Tour 250 Series (5–0)
Titles by surface
Hard (3–0)
Clay (1–0)
Grass (1–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Titles by setting
Outdoor (5–0)
Indoor (0–0)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Jul 2003 Indianapolis, United States International Series Hard Israel Andy Ram United States Diego Ayala
United States Robby Ginepri
2–6, 7–6(7–3), 7–5
Win 2–0 May 2005 Munich, Germany International Series Clay Austria Julian Knowle Germany Florian Mayer
Germany Alexander Waske
6–3, 1–6, 6–3
Win 3–0 Sep 2006 Beijing, China International Series Hard India Mahesh Bhupathi Germany Michael Berrer
Denmark Kenneth Carlsen
6–4, 6–3
Win 4–0 Oct 2006 Mumbai, India International Series Hard India Mahesh Bhupathi India Rohan Bopanna
India Mustafa Ghouse
6–4, 6–7(6–8), [10–8]
Win 5–0 Jun 2008 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands International Series Grass Austria Jürgen Melzer India Mahesh Bhupathi
India Leander Paes
7–6(7–5), 6–3

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

Singles: 10 (5–5)

Legend
ATP Challenger (4–2)
ITF Futures (1–3)
Finals by surface
Hard (2–4)
Clay (0–0)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (3–1)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 Feb 2000 Croatia F2, Zagreb Futures Hard Croatia Ivo Karlović 7–6(16–14), 6–4
Loss 1–1 May 2001 China F2, Kunming City Futures Hard Switzerland Yves Allegro 4–6, 6–7(4–7)
Loss 1–2 Jul 2001 Canada F3, Lachine Futures Hard France Benjamin Cassaigne 6–7(3–7), 5–7
Win 2–2 Feb 2002 Belgrade, Yugoslavia Challenger Carpet Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Nenad Zimonjić 6–2, 6–3
Loss 2–3 Mar 2002 Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Challenger Hard Japan Takao Suzuki 4–6, 3–6
Loss 2–4 Mar 2002 Kyoto, Japan Challenger Carpet Japan Takao Suzuki 7–6(7–4), 2–6, 2–6
Win 3–4 Nov 2002 Prague, Czech Republic Challenger Hard France Jérôme Golmard 6–1, 6–1
Win 4–4 Dec 2002 Milan, Italy Challenger Carpet France Gregory Carraz 4–6, 6–3, 7–6(10–8)
Win 5–4 Feb 2003 Hamburg, Germany Challenger Carpet Spain Rafael Nadal 6–2, 6–3
Loss 5–5 Mar 2010 USA F7, McAllen Futures Hard Russia Artem Sitak 1–6, 4–6

Doubles: 7 (3–4)

Legend
ATP Challenger (2–3)
ITF Futures (1–1)
Finals by surface
Hard (2–3)
Clay (1–0)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–1)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Feb 2000 Croatia F1, Zagreb Futures Hard Croatia Ivica Ančić Croatia Roko Karanušić
Croatia Zeljko Krajan
6–4, 5–7, 7–5
Loss 1–1 May 2001 Japan F5, Fukuoka Futures Hard Croatia Ivica Ančić Japan Yaoki Ishii
Japan Takahiro Terachi
4–6, 3–6
Loss 1–2 Mar 2002 Kyoto, Japan Challenger Carpet Croatia Lovro Zovko Finland Tuomas Ketola
Germany Alexander Waske
4–6, 4–6
Win 2–2 Nov 2002 Helsinki, Finland Challenger Hard Croatia Lovro Zovko North Macedonia Aleksandar Kitinov
United States Jim Thomas
7–6(8–6), 4–6, 6–3
Loss 2–3 Nov 2003 Bratislava, Slovakia Challenger Hard Argentina Martin Garcia Israel Harel Levy
Israel Jonathan Erlich
6–7(7–9), 3–6
Loss 2–4 Jan 2010 Heilbronn, Germany Challenger Hard Croatia Lovro Zovko Thailand Sonchat Ratiwatana
Thailand Sanchai Ratiwatana
4–6, 5–7
Win 3–4 Apr 2010 Rome, Italy Challenger Clay Croatia Ivan Dodig Argentina Juan Pablo Brzezicki
Spain Rubén Ramírez Hidalgo
4–6, 7–6(10–8), [10–4]

Junior Grand Slam finals

Singles: 2 (2 runner-ups)

Result Year Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Loss 2000 Australian Open Hard United States Andy Roddick 6–7(2–7), 3–6
Loss 2000 Wimbledon Grass France Nicolas Mahut 6–3, 3–6, 5–7

Performance timelines

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)

Singles

Tournament 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 SR W–L Win %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A 4R 3R 3R 3R 4R A 3R A 0 / 6 14–6 70%
French Open Q1 2R 3R 3R QF A 3R A A 0 / 5 11–5 71%
Wimbledon 2R 1R SF 4R QF A QF A A 0 / 6 17–6 74%
US Open 1R 1R 1R 2R A A A A A 0 / 4 1–4 20%
Win–loss 1–2 4–4 9–4 8–4 10–3 3–1 6–2 2–1 0–0 0 / 21 43–21 67%
Olympic Games
Summer Olympics not held 1R not held A not held 0 / 1 0–1 0%
ATP Tour Masters 1000
Indian Wells Masters A 1R 1R 2R 4R A 3R 2R 3R 0 / 7 7–7 50%
Miami Open 1R 1R Q1 4R QF A 4R A 1R 0 / 6 8–6 57%
Monte Carlo A Q1 A 2R A A 2R A A 0 / 2 2–2 50%
Rome A Q1 1R 1R QF A 2R A A 0 / 4 4–4 50%
Madrid Masters A A 1R 2R 2R QF A A A 0 / 4 3–4 43%
Hamburg A Q1 A 3R SF A A NMS 0 / 2 6–2 75%
Canada Masters A 1R A 3R A 2R 1R A A 0 / 4 3–4 43%
Cincinnati Masters A Q1 A 3R A 2R A A A 0 / 2 3–2 60%
Paris Masters A A 1R 2R QF 2R 2R A A 0 / 5 4–5 44%
Career statistics
Year 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 W–L Win %
Titles–finals 0–0 0–0 0–1 1–2 2–3 0–0 0–1 0–1 0–0 3–8 27%
Hard win–loss 2–6 9–13 6–10 25–15 25–12 12–10 18–7 13–6 2–2 111–80 58%
Clay win–loss 0–0 3–4 6–6 6–5 13–5 0–0 6–5 0–1 0–1 35–26 57%
Grass win–loss 1–1 2–3 10–3 9–2 9–1 0–0 8–3 0–0 0–0 40–13 75%
Carpet win–loss 0–0 1–1 5–5 4–5 7–1 1–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 21–14 60%
Overall win–loss 3–7 15–21 27–24 44–27 54–19 13–11 32–15 13–7 2–3 208–135 61%
Tournaments 7 18 22 24 20 10 16 7 3 Career Total: 127
Year-end ranking 89 74 29 21 9 85 36 95 478 Prize Money: $4,024,686
  • 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.

Doubles

Tournament 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 SR W–L Win %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A 2R 1R A A A A A 0 / 2 1–2 33%
French Open A 3R A A A A A A 0 / 1 2–1 67%
Wimbledon 1R A A A A A A A 0 / 1 0–1 0%
US Open QF 1R 2R A A A A A 0 / 3 4–3 57%
Win–loss 3–2 3–3 1–2 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0 / 7 7–7 50%
Olympic Games
Summer Olympics NH 3rd not held A not held 0 / 1 4–1 80%
ATP Tour Masters 1000
Indian Wells Masters 1R A 1R 1R A A A 1R 0 / 4 0–4 0%
Miami Open A A A QF A A A A 0 / 1 2–1 67%
Miami Open A A QF A A A A A 0 / 1 2–1 67%
Hamburg A A SF A A A NMS 0 / 1 3–1 75%
Canada Masters A A A A A QF A A 0 / 1 2–1 67%
Cincinnati Masters A A 1R A A A A A 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Win–loss 0–1 0–0 5–4 2–2 0–0 2–1 0–0 0–1 0 / 9 9–9 50%

ATP Tour career earnings

Year Majors ATP wins Total wins Earnings (US$) Money list rank
2002 0 0 0 101,122 165
2003 0 0 0 277,743 79
2004 0 0 0 579,375 38
2005 0 1 1 702,670 27
2006 0 2 2 1,276,265 9
2007 0 0 0 209,610 146
2008 0 0 0 600,326 44
2009 0 0 0 197,818 133
2010 0 0 0 52,464 284
Career 0 3 3 4,024,686

Top 10 wins

Season 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Total
Wins 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 5 2 1 1 0 13
# Player Rank Event Surface Rd Score Ančić
Rank
2002
1. Switzerland Roger Federer 6 Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom Grass 1R 6–3, 7–6(7–2), 6–3 154
2. Russia Yevgeny Kafelnikov 4 Indianapolis, United States Hard 2R 4–6, 6–2, 6–4 129
2004
3. United Kingdom Tim Henman 6 Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom Grass QF 7–6(7–5), 6–4, 6–2 63
2005
4. United Kingdom Tim Henman 7 Rotterdam, Netherlands Hard (i) QF 7–6(7–5), 7–6(7–4) 31
2006
5. Croatia Ivan Ljubičić 5 Marseille, France Hard (i) QF 7–6(7–2), 3–6, 6–3 21
6. Russia Nikolay Davydenko 5 Miami, United States Hard 4R 7–5, 6–4 23
7. United States James Blake 7 Hamburg, Germany Clay 3R 4–6, 7–5, 7–6(7–3) 13
8. Russia Nikolay Davydenko 6 Hamburg, Germany Clay QF 5–7, 7–6(7–4), 6–3 13
9. Spain Tommy Robredo 7 French Open, Paris, France Clay 4R 6–4, 4–6, 2–6, 6–4, 7–5 12
2007
10. Germany Tommy Haas 9 Cincinnati, United States Hard 1R 3–6, 7–6(7–3), 6–3 38
11. United States James Blake 8 Madrid, Spain Hard (i) 2R 6–3, 6–4 49
2008
12. Spain David Ferrer 5 Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom Grass 3R 6–4, 6–4, 6–7(5–7), 7–6(7–3) 43
2009
13. France Gilles Simon 8 Rotterdam, Netherlands Hard (i) 2R 6–4, 3–6, 6–3 28

See also

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