For, like his compatriot Goran Ivanisevic,
Ancic has a game that suits the surface
perfectly.
He certainly made an impact on his
SW19 debut in 2002 when he became the
first teenager to win on his Wimbledon
debut on Centre Court since Bjorn Borg
in 1973.
That victory was over Roger Federer
and means that Ancic is the last man
to have beaten Federer at Wimbledon.
The following year, the man who had
been christened "Super Mario"
and "Baby Goran" by the British
tabloids suffered a first-round defeat
at the hands of a 17-year-old Rafael
Nadal.
But the 6ft 5in Croat returned in 2004
to upset British hopes when he beat
Tim Henman in the quarter-finals.
His run was ended in the last four
by Andy Roddick, but Ancic improved
his year-end ranking for the fifth consecutive
time in 2004 and will be one of the
names most feared by the top seeds this
year.
