Tennis: Goran far from a sharpshooter

By TERRY MADDAFORD

Goran Ivanisevic will want to be more accurate with his racket than he was with his rifle when he takes to the Stanley St courts this week.

The popular Croatian and reigning Wimbledon champion is back for the Heineken Open as second seed, and will play unseeded Finn Jarkko Nieminen in first-round action tomorrow.

Fresh from his stint in the Croatian Army, Ivanisevic said he had enjoyed the discipline which the changed environment had brought.

Asked about his rifle-handling ability, Ivanisevic laughed and said: "Hopefully I do not have to use it. My sheet [target] was clean."

The Army was something of a culture shock for the 30-year-old, who has banked close to $US20 million since turning professional in 1988.

"We are used to nice hotels, having someone make our beds and get up late. That is much different than standing in line at 7 am waiting for breakfast."

But the spell away from the circuit was, he said, a break after a hectic year in which, against all the odds, he won Wimbledon en route to a season-ending ranking of 12, up from 129 a year earlier.

"Winning Wimbledon was the biggest thing in my life. After being beaten three times in the final, God gave me a fourth chance. I took it.

"Even now, I'm nervous just thinking about 1 pm on the Monday [in June] when I will start to defend my title," Ivanisevic said. "It is going to be fun."

But before he can even think about that, he has business Down Under.

Still smarting from his first-round loss in Auckland two years ago, Ivanisevic is keen to make amends.

"The crowd here was nice," he said. "There were a lot who had come to watch.

"They wanted to see me play, but I stayed only two days. It was not worth it."

The Croatian, with the sparkling eyes and ready smile, admitted last night that Auckland was not his first choice as a lead-in tournament for next week's Australian Open.

"It's a long flight," he said, after making the trip from last week's tournament in Doha, Qatar, where he lost in the second round to "someone [Radek Stepanek] ranked 500 in the world."

Stepanek is on court in doubles action tonight.

His singles ranking is well short of getting a start, even in the qualifying tournament.

Asked about his reported shoulder injury, Ivanisevic said he had not played much tennis in the lead-up to the Doha tournament and had been forced to hit a lot of balls in his first-round match with Stefan Koubek.

"I had to hit a lot of backhands and forehands and then I got pain, but I have to get used to it," he said. "There's going to be pain, but I'm going to take painkillers.

"I was thinking about surgery, but it is going to take me too much time. I'm not prepared to do that."

Just as he is not prepared to say when enough is enough.

"I'm just going to one day disappear," he said.

"I'm not going to announce anything. One day my name will just not be there."

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