Ancic sent into a fury by Spanish inquisition
28 June 2005
By Mark Hodgkinson
The Telegraph
It was no surprise that Mario Ancic reacted in such petulant and spectacular style yesterday, throwing his drinks bottle around the court, mangling one racket and later, moments after his defeat, handing another racket to the ball girl for her to keep as a present. The young Croat has some temper - and no serious grasscourt player expects to lose to a Spaniard.
But, as Feliciano Lopez said afterwards, he can hardly be described as a classic Spanish player, one of those baseline sluggers who is happiest on a clay court and only comes to the net to shake hands at the end of the match. Here was a Spaniard who was choosing to serve and volley, and was doing so with great calm and control.
It was registered as the shock of the day, as Ancic had been considered a possible winner of these championships, and Lopez deserved the acclaim as he became the first Spaniard for 33 years to reach the quarter-finals at the All England Club. He was hitting his serves with searing power, and punching his volleys with a sense of purpose during his 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 victory.
As well as Lopez played, it was a horrid performance from Ancic, a semi-finalist last year. His game is based around the brutish power of his serving arm, but he served particularly poorly, hitting almost as many double-faults as he did aces. It was all so immensely frustrating for the 10th seed. He certainly did not take kindly to being out-served by the Spaniard.
Perhaps the result should not have been seen as such a surprise. Lopez has been a consistent performer on these grass courts, having reached the fourth round in 2002 and 2003 and the third round last year. He had also defeated Marat Safin, the Russian fifth seed, in the third round last week and this was the first time at any of the four majors that he had reached the quarter-finals.
"Is Wimbledon now my favourite tournament? Yeah, for sure," he said. "I have a good game for grass, better than clay, better than any other surface. I can serve and volley well and that is the best weapon that I have on grass, and that's why I am playing well. I'm in the quarter-finals and it's easy to start dreaming, but I don't want to dream just now. I want to concentrate on my next match, against Lleyton Hewitt."
Hewitt said that Lopez, a left-handed player, had benefited from not being "a typical Spanish player".
"He is not typical," Hewitt said. "He's very different, and that's one reason he's done so well on a grass court. He can mix it up, serve and volley, or stay back. In terms of that, he is very different to the traditional Spanish players."
It was Rafael Nadal, the French Open champion, and not Lopez, who was thought of as the Spaniard most likely to have an impact on Wimbledon. Nadal had been attempting to become the first man for a quarter of a century to win Roland Garros and
Wimbledon in the same year. But the teenager was off with his timing during his second-round defeat last week, and repeatedly stared at the grass after losing his footing.
It has all been so different with Lopez, who has treated the lawns with affection. So much so that against Ancic he spent his time between points doing some gardening,
tending to a large divot in the middle of the court and also smoothing out the bumps in the surface. He looked like a man enjoying himself, a Spaniard who was glad that he was not scuffing his trainers around the baseline dust of a clay court.
The horticulture and the volleys were compelling to watch on Court No 18. It would have made interesting viewing for Tim Henman, who has been complaining that the conditions have now become so slow that it is no longer possible to serve and volley with much success. Lopez showed that you can serve and volley at Wimbledon and win matches. Almost every time he reached the net, he won the point.
Ancic was broken in the opening game of the second set, and it was suddenly all too much for the 21-year-old. Ancic seems to have learned as much about bad behaviour from Goran Ivanisevic, his friend and mentor, as he did about smashing a fast serve off the grass and, with a satisfying thud, into the scoreboard. Ancic is world-class when it comes to histrionics, and was not going to let the opportunity slip.
The Croat, or 'Baby Goran' as he is known in the locker room, picked up his drinks bottle as he crossed for the change of ends, and then hurled it towards his chair and his kit bag. Next to fly was the racket, and he was disappointed to see that the frame did not immediately crack in several places. But the ball boy retrieved the racket and handed it back to Ancic for a second attempt.
Ancic tried again, this time a little harder, and he took the crumpled racket back to his chair with some satisfaction. He did not even mind that he was given a code violation for racket abuse, and the blow-out actually did him some good, as in the next game he broke for the only time of the match. It was not to last, not against the sustained class of Lopez