Mario Ančić (Croatian pronunciation:[mâːrioâːntʃitɕ];[2][3] born 30 March 1984) is a Croatian former professionaltennis player who currently works as a private equity vice president inNew York City.[4] He won three singles titles and five doubles titles on theATP Tour. Ančić's career-high singles ranking came in 2006, when he reached world No. 7. Ančić helpedCroatia to win the 2005Davis Cup and claimed a bronze medal for the country at the2004 Athens Olympics, inmen's doubles partneringIvan Ljubičić.
Ančić was born inSplit, Croatia to Stipe and Nilda Ančić. His father owns a supermarket chain, and his mother is a financial adviser. His older brotherIvica and younger sisterSanja 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.[7][8]
From 2002 to 2008, Ančić was a law student at theUniversity of Split; he graduated from its law school on 14 April 2008. His thesis described the legal foundation and organisation of theATP Tour.[9]
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 inZagreb;[10] 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 fromColumbia Law School. He became an investment banking associate atCredit Suisse;[11] as of 2019 he is an Associate at One Equity Partners in New York City.[4]
Goran Ivanišević was his doubles partner in hisCroatian Davis Cup Team debut and at the2000 Summer Olympic Games indoubles. At first, Ančić mostly played Futures andDavis 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.[citation needed]
His ATP debut was atMiami Masters, where he drew a wild card, but he lost in the opening round.[12] The highlight of his Grand Slam debut at the2002 Wimbledon Championships was the major upset of his first round defeat ofRoger Federer, the seventh seed, 6–3, 7–6(2), 6–3 in just under two hours.[13] He finished the 2002 season in the top 100 in singles.
Ančić started on the2006 ATP Tour with strong note in his second tournament of the year inAuckland, where he defeated top seedFernando González on his way to the final. In February, he also reached the final inMarseille, losing toArnaud Clément. He made in the quarter-finals at two Masters and two Grand Slams tournaments. Ančić was defeated byDavid Nalbandian atMiami andRome and byRoger Federer at the French Open and Wimbledon. He also reached his career high atMaster Series event, reaching the semi-finals atHamburg Masters. Ančić successfully defended his 2005 title at's-Hertogenbosch. After Wimbledon, Ančić reached No. 7, his career high in singles.[15]
At the2006 French Open, he had a shoving incident withPaul 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.[16][17] 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 theChina Open, losing toMarcos Baghdatis. In October, he won his third singles title at theSt. Petersburg Open. At theParis Masters, Ančić lost toNikolay Davydenko in the quarterfinals.
He entered the2007 Australian Open as the ninth seed, and advanced to a fourth round.
InMarseille, Ančić retired in the first round and was diagnosed withinfectious mononucleosis (mono).[18] 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.[19] Due to his illness, Ančić spent most of the next 10 weeks in bed[20] and missed six months from the tour.
Ančić started training in June with his Swedish coachFredrik Rosengren.[20] After he withdrew from two tournaments in July, Ančić returned in August at theCanada Masters and theCincinnati 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.[19] In October, he made his first big result after the illness, making it into the quarterfinals atMadrid Masters. In 2007, he dropped to No. 83 at the end of the year.[6]
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.[21] His first 2008 event was inMarseille in February, where he eventually lost in the final toAndy Murray. At theIndian Wells Masters andMiami Masters, Ančić entered the main draw by receiving wild cards, where he beat three seeded players.
Having lost in an opening round at theCanada Masters, and having skipped theCincinnati Masters as the fatigue intensified and the weight loss mounted, Ančić withdrew from the2008 Summer Olympics,[22] and later the US Open, due to a recurrence of mononucleosis.[23] 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.[24][25]
Ančić returned to the main tour level at the2010 BNP Paribas Open, where he made it to the third round. He played Challengers without success.
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.[26] 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".[27][28]
Croatia
Mahesh Bhupathi
Antony Dupuis
Wayne Arthurs
Wesley Moodie
Jarkko Nieminen
Jan Hernych
Marcos Baghdatis
Thomas Johansson
Andy Murray
Andy Ram
Diego Ayala
Julian Knowle
Florian Mayer
Kenneth Carlsen
Yves Allegro
Nenad Zimonjić
Takao Suzuki
Rafael Nadal
Artem Sitak
Aleksandar Kitinov
Martin Garcia
Sonchat Ratiwatana
