Mario Ančić facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Mario Ančić

Ančić at Canada Masters, July 2008
Country (sports)	Croatia
Residence	Monte Carlo, Monaco
Born	(1984-03-30) 30 March 1984 (age 41) 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 is a former professional tennis player from Croatia. He was born on March 30, 1984. Mario won three singles titles and five doubles titles during his time on the ATP Tour. His highest singles ranking was world No. 7 in 2006.

Mario helped his country, Croatia, win the 2005 Davis Cup. He also earned a bronze medal for Croatia at the 2004 Athens Olympics. He won this medal in men's doubles with his partner Ivan Ljubičić.

When he was a teenager, Mario made his first big appearance at the 2002 Wimbledon Championships. There, he surprised everyone by beating the seventh-seeded player, Roger Federer. His best performance at a major tournament was reaching the semifinals at the 2004 Wimbledon Championships. Later in his career, he faced health challenges. A sickness called infectious mononucleosis and other small injuries caused him to miss many important events. This made his ranking drop from No. 9 in January 2007 to No. 135 in January 2008. After retiring from tennis, he started a career in finance in New York City.

About Mario Ančić's Life

Mario Ančić was born in Split, Croatia. His parents are Stipe and Nilda Ančić. His father owns a chain of supermarkets, and his mother works as a financial adviser. Mario has an older brother named Ivica and a younger sister named Sanja. Both of his siblings also played tennis professionally. Mario grew up in a Catholic family, and he has said that his faith is very important to him. He is very close to his uncle, who is a priest and used to be a missionary.

Mario's Career Outside Tennis

While playing tennis, Mario also studied law at the University of Split. He graduated from law school on April 14, 2008. His final project for his degree was about how the ATP Tour is set up and organized legally.

In 2009, Mario had to take a break from tennis because his mononucleosis came back. During this time, he started working at a law office in Zagreb. However, he later decided to pause his law work to focus on his tennis career again. After his tennis career, he went to Columbia Law School and earned a special law degree called an LLM. He then worked in investment banking at Credit Suisse. As of 2019, he is an Associate at One Equity Partners in New York City.

Mario's Tennis Journey

Starting Out in Tennis (2000–2002)

As a junior player, Mario Ančić was ranked No. 1 in the world on January 2, 2001. He had a great record of 62 wins and 20 losses in singles matches. He reached the finals in the Boys' Singles at the 2000 Australian Open, where he lost to Andy Roddick. He also made it to the finals at the 2000 Wimbledon Championships, losing to Nicolas Mahut.

Mario played doubles with Goran Ivanišević in his first match for the Croatian Davis Cup Team. They also played together at the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in doubles. At first, Mario mostly played in smaller tournaments called Futures and Davis Cup events. He won one title in Zagreb. From August 2001, he started playing Challenger tournaments, winning four singles titles and one doubles title. In 2002, he had a record of 30 wins and 16 losses in Challenger matches.

Playing on the ATP Tour (2002–2005)

Mario made his debut on the main ATP Tour at the Miami Masters. He received a special invitation to play but lost in the first round. A big moment in his first major tournament, the 2002 Wimbledon Championships, was when he beat Roger Federer. Federer was the seventh-seeded player, and Mario won 6–3, 7–6⁽²⁾, 6–3 in less than two hours. Mario finished the year 2002 ranked among the top 100 singles players.

Goran Ivanišević and Mario Ančić playing doubles in 2004.

In February 2004, Mario reached his first ATP singles final at the ATP Indesit Milano Indoor tournament. He beat strong players like Rafael Nadal and Tommy Robredo to get there. At the 2004 Wimbledon Championships, Mario had his best result at a Grand Slam, reaching the semifinals. This great performance helped him jump 36 spots in the ATP singles ranking to No. 27.

In doubles, he teamed up with Ivan Ljubičić to represent Croatia at the 2004 Summer Olympics. They won a bronze medal, even though they lost to González and Nicolás Massú in the semifinal. Mario won his first ATP singles title at the Ordina Open in 2005. Another highlight in 2005 was reaching the final at the Japan Open Tennis Championships, where he lost to Wesley Moodie.

Peak of His Career (2006)

Mario Ančić started the 2006 ATP Tour very strongly. In his second tournament of the year in Auckland, he defeated the top player, Fernando González, on his way to the final. In February, he also reached the final in Marseille, but lost to Arnaud Clément. He made it to the quarter-finals at two Masters tournaments and two Grand Slam tournaments. Roger Federer defeated him at the French Open and Wimbledon. Mario also reached his highest point at a Master Series event, making it to the semifinals at the Hamburg Masters.

Mario successfully defended his 2005 title at the 's-Hertogenbosch tournament. After Wimbledon, Mario reached his career-high singles ranking of No. 7. At the 2006 French Open, he had a small disagreement with Paul Capdeville after their match. Both players were fined $3,000. Mario reached the quarter-finals before losing to Federer.

Mario missed the U.S. hard-court season because of a knee injury he got in a jet skiing accident. In September, in his first tournament back, 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, Mario lost to Nikolay Davydenko in the quarter-finals.

Dealing with Illness and Comebacks (2007–2010)

Mario started the 2007 Australian Open as the ninth-seeded player and reached the fourth round. In Marseille, Mario had to stop playing in the first round. He was diagnosed with infectious mononucleosis, often called "mono." He later said he had been playing while sick for a week before, and the virus had started affecting him even at the Australian Open. Because of this illness, Mario spent most of the next 10 weeks in bed and missed six months of playing on the tour.

Mario began training again in June with his coach, Fredrik Rosengren. After pulling out of two tournaments in July, Mario returned in August at the Canada Masters and the Cincinnati Masters. He lost in the second rounds of both. A week before the US Open, Mario fractured a small bone while at the gym. This meant he missed his third Grand Slam tournament in 2007. In October, he had his first good result after his illness, reaching the quarter-finals at the Madrid Masters. By the end of 2007, his ranking had dropped to No. 83.

Ančić hitting a backhand at the 2008 Indian Wells Masters.

Mario started the 2008 season with more illness and had to withdraw from tournaments in Australia, missing his fourth Grand Slam in a row. His first event in 2008 was in Marseille in February. He eventually lost in the final to Andy Murray. At the Indian Wells Masters and Miami Masters, Mario was given special entry into the main competition. He managed to beat three seeded players in these tournaments.

After losing in the first round at the Canada Masters and skipping the Cincinnati Masters due to tiredness and weight loss, Mario withdrew from the 2008 Summer Olympics. He later also missed the US Open because his mononucleosis came back. Mario returned in September to play for the Davis Cup. After a good start to the 2009 season, Mario announced in May that he would miss the French Open, Wimbledon, and the Davis Cup semifinal match. This was again due to his mononucleosis returning.

Mario returned to the main tour at the 2010 BNP Paribas Open, where he reached the third round. He also played in some Challenger tournaments but did not have much success.

Retirement from Tennis

On February 21, 2011, Mario Ančić announced that he was retiring from professional tennis. He made this decision because his mononucleosis kept coming back. He finished his career with three titles, 208 wins, and 135 losses. On February 23, 2011, Mario held a press conference at the Firule tennis club to officially retire. He said, "My heart wanted to play, but my body couldn't. This is the toughest moment of my life. I always tried to be perfect, and when I realized that my body could not play the kind of tennis I know I can play, there was no other choice."

Mario Ančić's Olympic Medal

Doubles: 1 (1 bronze medal)

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

ATP Career Finals

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

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Feb 2004	Milan, Italy	International Series	Carpet	Antony Dupuis	4–6, 7–6(14–12), 6–7(5–7)
Loss	0–2	Feb 2005	Scottsdale, United States	International Series	Hard	Wayne Arthurs	5–7, 3–6
Win	1–2	Jun 2005	's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands	International Series	Grass	Michaël Llodra	7–5, 6–4
Loss	1–3	Oct 2005	Tokyo, Japan	International Gold	Hard	Wesley Moodie	6–1, 6–7(7–9), 4–6
Loss	1–4	Jan 2006	Auckland, New Zealand	International Series	Hard	Jarkko Nieminen	2–6, 2–6
Loss	1–5	Feb 2006	Marseille, France	International Series	Hard	Arnaud Clément	4–6, 2–6
Win	2–5	Jun 2006	's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands	International Series	Grass	Jan Hernych	6–0, 5–7, 7–5
Loss	2–6	Sep 2006	Beijing, China	International Series	Hard	Marcos Baghdatis	4–6, 0–6
Win	3–6	Oct 2006	St. Petersburg, Russia	International Series	Carpet	Thomas Johansson	7–5, 7–6(7–2)
Loss	3–7	Feb 2008	Marseille, France	International Series	Hard	Andy Murray	3–6, 4–6
Loss	3–8	Feb 2009	Zagreb, Croatia	250 Series	Hard	Marin Čilić	3–6, 4–6

Doubles: 5 (5 titles)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1–0	Jul 2003	Indianapolis, United States	International Series	Hard	Andy Ram	Diego Ayala Robby Ginepri	2–6, 7–6(7–3), 7–5
Win	2–0	May 2005	Munich, Germany	International Series	Clay	Julian Knowle	Florian Mayer Alexander Waske	6–3, 1–6, 6–3
Win	3–0	Sep 2006	Beijing, China	International Series	Hard	Mahesh Bhupathi	Michael Berrer Kenneth Carlsen	6–4, 6–3
Win	4–0	Oct 2006	Mumbai, India	International Series	Hard	Mahesh Bhupathi	Rohan Bopanna Mustafa Ghouse	6–4, 6–7(6–8), [10–8]
Win	5–0	Jun 2008	's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands	International Series	Grass	Jürgen Melzer	Mahesh Bhupathi Leander Paes	7–6(7–5), 6–3

Junior Grand Slam Finals

Singles: 2 (2 runner-ups)

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

Notable Wins Against Top Players

Mario Ančić had some impressive wins against players ranked in the top 10. Here are a few of them:

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

See also

In Spanish: Mario Ančić para niños

• Croatia Davis Cup Team
• Goran Ivanišević