This weekend’s U.S.-Croatia Davis Cup tie was all about Ivan Ljubicic (duh!). With his shaved head and perpetually knitted brows, the lanky Croatian looked like an Andre Agassi from the wrong side of the tracks. That, in a way, is exactly what he is. As a youth, Ljubicic had to flee the fighting in his homeland when the nation formerly known as Yugoslavia broke apart. He developed into an international-grade player in Italy.
This tie was all about Ljubicic in the same way that the U.S. tie against Russia in 1995 was all about Pete Sampras. Like the American icon, Ljubicic won all three points for Croatia—and in a repeat performance, no less. He did the same thing to the Americans in Croatia in 2003, but as he said: “I mean, it’s big difference. Huge difference. I mean, there we played at home. For all respect, but {in 2003 we played} James Blake and Mardy Fish. Has nothing to compare with Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick, and Bryan brothers in L.A. I mean, it is incredible.”
The key factor in the tie, as I saw it, was Ljubicic’s iron-man performance. Everybody—including U.S. captain Pat McEnroe and the top U.S. singles player, Andy Roddick, thought that Ljubicic might crumble if stretched to four or five sets on his third straight day of play. But the strapping Ljubicic refused to fold, much like Sampras in Moscow. It was an extremely impressive display.