Mario Ancic Retires

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 25th February 2011

Mario Ancic Retires |

Mario Ancic, the big serving Croatian who emerged as the heir apparent to Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic but has been plagued by ill health and injury for the last four years, has been forced to retire a month short of his 27^th birthday.

Recurrent mononucleosis (glandular fever) has repeatedly troubled Ancic, once no.7 in the world rankings and a Wimbledon semi-finalist in 2004, but a back injury has forced him to finally concede to doctor’s advice.

“It would not be me out there any more,” said Ancic who amassed $3,954,213 in prize money during a career that saw him win three ATP World Tour singles titles, make his Davis Cup debut at the age of 15 and play a prominent role in Croatia lifting the trophy in 2005.

Like Ivanisevic, Ancic felt happiest on grass and twice won the Dutch title at ‘s-Hertogenbosch in 2005 and again a year later while also adding the St. Petersburg title on indoor carpet in 2006. He also won five doubles titles with a variety of partners including Andy Ram, Mahesh Bhupathi, Julian Knowle and Jurgen Melzer.

But probably his most famous afternoon came on Wimbledon’s Centre Court in 2002 when he graduated in terms of nicknames from being ‘Baby Goran’ to ‘Super Mario’ by defeating Roger Federer in the first round, a year after the Swiss had beaten Pete Sampras on the same lawn. Ancic so became the youngest victorious teenage debutant on Centre Court since Bjorn Borg in 1973.

After being stricken with mononucleosis, Ancic also suffered from shoulder problems, thyroid concerns and a stomach virus. During his convalescence he took time out to complete a doctorate in law at Split University. His thesis was entitled “ATP Tennis, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.”

Although he battled to return his ranking to 43 in the world, Ancic’s health meant he was never able to fully commit himself to tennis. “I knew I would never be 100% fit again, and there was no real answer to it,” he said. “It would have required a pretty serious operation even for me to have a chance to recovery and I would never have been guaranteed a full motion again.

“I have had to be fair with myself. My mind was fine but my body couldn’t compete and the way tennis is today, well I have to be sensible about it. I tried everything I knew to come back, but I couldn’t do it.”

Ancic , now a fully qualified lawyer who twice spoke at the Harvard Law School in 2009, will formally announce his retirement from the sport at a press conference in his hometown of Split tomorrow (Wednesday).