Iva Majoli is a gorgeous Croatian lady who made her living out of playing professional tennis. I first became Iva's fan when she emerged at the 1993 French Open as "the new Monica Seles". Iva is comparable with Monica because they were both brilliant two-handed baseline-players who hit with relentless fury (although Iva had only a single-handed forehand), they both grunted, they looked somewhat alike (particularly their grimaces when they hit the ball), and they were both born in (and once played for) the former Yugoslavia.
But Iva also established herself as a great champion in her own right, most notably on 7th June 1997 when she won the French Open with an amazing 6-4 6-2 victory in the final over Martina Hingis, the world number one who had a 40-0 win-loss record for the year so far going into that match. I always knew Iva was brilliant, and believed she could win a Grand Slam if the opportunity came along and she was up to taking it - and she did!
Some people say that Iva's French Open victory was a fluke, as Hingis hadn't played before the French Open since April due to a knee-injury, and may have been tired after a long semi-final against Monica two days before and a long doubles-match the day before. But the bottom line is that Iva wore Hingis down with wonderful spreading rallies, and blew her away with clean winners all over the court. Hingis couldn't cope with Iva's ability to change the pace and direction, nor with Iva's command of length and angles. Iva would have beaten anyone on that day!
Iva had sharp, precise groundstrokes and tended to go for the lines a lot. She was a very brave and gritty competitor, willing to go for her shots when in trouble. Ironically, the best victories of her career tended to come despite some adversity (injuries) - she seemed to thrive on drama. She moved well, too - particularly forwards for dropshots. She was very energetic.
Iva was at her best on clay and carpet - not so good on hard courts or grass. I would say that Iva's main weaknesses were consistency (she was a high-risk player, but didn't always take risks at the right times), temperament, and serve.
Iva won eight WTA or Grand Slam singles-titles in all (one Grand Slam, three Tier I, four Tier II), her first at Z�rich 1995 and her last (and first since the French Open 1997) at Charleston 2002 - thus her trophy-cabinet is book-ended by two Tier I tournaments! Her highest ranking was #4 - first reached after she won the Tokyo Pan Pacific Open 1996, and again after the French Open 1997.
Iva is a very nice, gracious person who exudes joie de vivre. She is also a radiantly attractive girl, with the most beautiful eyes and smile I have ever seen. She has a unique spiritual sex-appeal, and an innate beauty that does not depend on her youth. I hope Stipe Maric realises how lucky he is, because I've never wanted to marry anyone but Iva, and now I never can. I am not bitter when I say this - I'm happy that she's happy.
Iva was born in Zagreb on 12th August 1977. Her coaches included her father Stanko and her older brother Dado. Her mother is called Dragica, and she also has a seven-years-older sister, Nina Majoli, who played singles at an ITF satellite at Sibenik in October 1986 (losing 6-1 6-0 to Simona Albertazzi in the first round), and doubles at an ITF satellite at Umag in September 1994.
Iva first took up tennis at the age of seven, when she saw Dado and Nina playing and wanted to join in. When she was twelve, she and her father and brother moved to Bradenton, Florida to attend Nick Bollettieri's Tennis Academy (after Iva was brought to the attention of IMG by winning the 1989 European Championships). Her mother and sister joined them in Bradenton later.
Twelve-year-old Iva played for Yugoslavia in the Europa Cup (Girls' 14 & Under International Team Championship) at Glasgow in July. Yugoslavia reached the final, which they lost to Czechoslovakia 2:3, but Iva beat Sabina Radevicov� 6-2 4-6 6-1 before she and T. Doric lost the deciding doubles 6-3 7-5 to Alena Havrlikov� and Radevicov�.
Iva played her first tournament that carried ranking-points at the Mali Losinj ITF satellite in September. The thirteen-year-old lost 6-2 6-2 in the first round to eventual champion Ruxandra Dragomir, who would be one of Iva's best friends on the tour by 1997.
Iva turned pro in August 1991 - the month of her fourteenth birthday. Her first tournament of the year was the Chicago ITF challenger in September, where she beat Jan Blackstad 6-2 6-1 in the first round of qualifying, but lost 7-5 3-6 6-3 to Trisha Laux in the second round of qualifying.
Iva played the first WTA tournament of her career in Puerto Rico, and lost to Camille Benjamin in the first round of qualifying. She also played the WTA Arizona Classic, losing to Jolene Watanabe in the first round of qualifying.
These three tournaments gave Iva a ranking of #798 at the end of 1991.
Iva was runner-up at the Austin satellite, beating Stephanie Tibbets 6-2 3-6 6-0, Stella Sampras 7-5 6-4, Eleni Rossides 6-2 6-1 and Caroline Vis 7-5 1-6 6-4; she lost 6-4 6-4 to Elena Savoldi in the final. She lost to Louise Allen in the quarter-finals of the New Braunfels satellite, and to Maria Ekstrand in the first round of the Key Biscayne challenger after qualifying.
Iva received a wild card for the Virginia Slims of Houston - the first WTA main draw of her career. She beat fifteen-year-old Lindsay Davenport 6-3 6-4 in the first round, and upset fifth seed Lori McNeil 6-3 6-3 in the second round! She lost to Zina Garrison Jackson 6-3 6-4 in the quarter-finals.
Iva won the St. Simons challenger in June, beating Jeri Ingram 6-7 6-2 6-2, Stacey Shefflin 6-1 6-1, Alysia May 6-3 7-6, Stacey Martin 6-3 7-6, and Beverly Bowes 7-6 7-6 in the final.
Iva won the Evansville challenger in July, beating Rachel Ann Jensen 6-2 6-3, Alysia May 6-1 3-6 6-1, Stacey Martin 2-6 6-4 6-1, Tessa Price 6-7 6-2 6-2, and Ai Sugiyama 6-3 6-1 in the final. She reached the semi-finals of the York challenger, losing to Nicole Arendt, and lost in the first round of the WTA tournament in Schenectady 6-3 6-2.
Iva made her Grand Slam d�but at the US Open 1992, beating Mariaan de Swardt 6-4 6-4 in the first round, and losing to Florencia Labat 6-3 6-3 in the second round. She then lost to Marianne Werdel in the first round of Puerto Rico.
Iva beat Karina Hab�udov� 6-2 6-7 6-1 in the first round of Oakland, and Lori McNeil 6-3 0-6 6-2. She bowed out in the quarter-finals 6-3 6-1 to the all-conquering Monica Seles. This was the first time I ever heard of Iva Majoli.
Iva also reached the quarter-finals of Indianapolis, beating Elna Reinach 7-5 0-6 6-2, second seed Nathalie Tauziat 6-3 6-3, and losing to Linda Harvey-Wild 4-6 6-2 6-4. She finished this year of giant strides ranked #50.
Iva reached the quarter-finals of the Virginia Slims of Chicago, losing to Mary Joe Fern�ndez 4-6 6-1 6-2. Gigi Fern�ndez (no relation) joined the list of Majoli-victims 7-5 2-6 6-3 in the first round of the Virginia Slims of Florida; Iva lost 6-2 6-2 to Steffi Graf in the third round.
Iva lost in the second round (after a bye) of the Lipton Championships 7-6 6-4 to Ann Grossman, whom she had beaten 6-3 6-3 in the second round at Florida. She lost to Lindsay Davenport 6-1 6-4 in the first round of Hilton Head, having beaten Davenport at the 1992 Virginia Slims of Houston. Once Iva's beaten an opponent, she doesn't usually ever lose to her again! ;-)
Iva upset Nathalie Tauziat 6-1 6-2 in the first round of the Italian Open, but lost to Ines Gorrochategui 6-3 4-6 7-6 in the second round.
But it was at the French Open that she really made an impression, reaching the fourth round amidst comparisons with Monica Seles, who tragically had been stabbed in the back at a changeover in Hamburg three weeks earlier. Iva beat Sandra Dopfer 6-2 6-4, Louise Allen 6-0 6-1 and Sabine Hack 6-0 7-6, and put up a brave fight against Steffi Graf before losing 6-4 7-6. Even though I didn't get to see her play, this was when I started following Iva's career, having been greatly impressed with the articles I'd read and the photo I'd seen in The Daily Telegraph (British newspaper).
Sadly Iva missed Wimbledon with a pulled stomach-muscle, and lost the momentum she had been building. She returned at Toronto just after her sixteenth birthday, beating Mar�a Jos� Gaidano 6-1 6-3 and losing to Mary Joe Fern�ndez 6-3 6-4 in the second round. She reached the second round of the US Open again, beating Rachel McQuillan 6-3 6-3 and losing to Jana Novotn� 6-3 6-0.
Iva lost to Nathalie Tauziat in the second round of Z�rich, Natalia Zvereva in the first round of Filderstadt, and Julie Halard in the first round of Essen.
She reached the quarter-finals of Oakland, beating Shaun Stafford 7-5 6-3, Amy Frazier 6-3 6-4, and losing to Martina Navr�tilov� 3-6 6-3 6-2. She lost to Mary Pierce in the first round of the Virginia Slims of Philadelphia, and finished the year ranked #46. She was voted the WTA's Most Impressive Newcomer.
It was an impressive year for the precocious sixteen-year-old, though it began with an ignominious 6-1 6-0 thrashing by Steffi Graf in the first round of the Tokyo Pan Pacific Open. But then Iva reached the first WTA final of her career at Osaka, beating Alexia Dechaume 6-2 6-1, Carin Bakkum 6-3 6-1, Park Sung-Hee 7-6 6-7 6-2 and Ai Sugiyama 7-5 7-5. She narrowly lost the final 6-1 4-6 7-5 to Manuela Maleeva-Fragni�re, who thus won the last WTA tournament of her career.
Iva followed that up by reaching the semi-finals at Indian Wells, where she beat Sabine Hack 6-3 4-6 7-6, Lisa Raymond 6-3 2-6 6-1 and Natalia Zvereva 6-3 6-3 before losing to Graf again, this time 6-4 6-1. Iva suffered the only 6-0 6-0 defeat of her career to Chanda Rubin in the first round of the Virginia Slims of Florida, and was trounced 6-2 6-1 by Lindsay Davenport in the first round of the Virginia Slims of Houston.
Iva reached the semi-finals at Hilton Head, beating Alexandra Fusai 6-3 6-3, Gabriela Sabatini 6-2 2-6 6-2 (the best win of her career up to that point), Leila Meskhi 6-4 1-6 6-4, and avenging her loss to Davenport 7-5 1-6 6-2 in the quarter-finals. Then she lost 6-3 6-7 6-4 to Conchita Mart�nez.
Iva then reached the second WTA final of her career in the Tier II tournament at Barcelona. She beat Katerina Kroupov� 6-2 6-2, Selesian player Mar�a Antonia S�nchez Lorenzo 6-2 2-6 6-3, Conchita Mart�nez 6-4 6-3 (another great scalp!) and Magdalena Maleeva 5-7 6-4 6-2. She was beaten comprehensively in the final, 6-0 6-2 by Arantxa S�nchez Vicario, but she had demonstrated great talent and potential.
Iva was a quarter-finalist to Gabriela Sabatini at Strasbourg. She repeated her fourth round at the French Open, beating Dominique Monami 6-1 7-5, Silvia Farina 6-4 6-1, Karin Kschwendt 3-6 6-3 6-2, but suffering a disappointing loss to Ines Gorrochategui 7-5 6-4.
Iva reached the quarter-finals of Birmingham - the first grasscourt tournament of her career - struggling past Nicole Arendt 3-6 6-3 8-6 and Kristine Radford 7-6 2-6 6-4. She was gunned down by the big-serving Brenda Schultz, who served a record 22 aces, 6-4 5-7 6-0. This seemed to be an adequate preparation for Wimbledon, but my hopes of seeing her play for the first time were dashed when she lost in the first round there to Sandra Cacic 4-6 6-3 6-4. Sadly, grass just isn't sympathetic to Iva's out-and-out baseline-style.
Iva reached the semi-finals at Stratton Mountain with a notable 6-3 5-7 7-6 victory over Mary Joe Fern�ndez in the quarter-finals before losing 6-3 6-3 to Arantxa S�nchez Vicario. Iva's next two tournaments were rather disappointing, losing 6-0 6-1 to Jana Novotn� in the third round at San Diego, and 6-4 6-4 to Elena Likhovtseva in the second round in Montr�al.
Iva reached the fourth round of the US Open, beating No�lle van Lottum 6-1 2-0 retired, Elna Reinach 6-2 6-2, Anna Smashnova (now Pistolesi) 6-2 6-3, and losing 6-1 6-2 to Mary Pierce. Sadly Iva has never equalled this progress at the US Open, let alone bettered it.
Iva lost in the quarter-finals of Leipzig to Judith Wiesner, and in the second round of Z�rich to Miriam Oremans. She then reached her third WTA final at Essen, beating Linda Harvey-Wild 6-7 7-6 7-6, Elena Makarova 6-3 6-2, Anke Huber 2-6 6-3 6-1, Natalia Medvedeva (Andrei Medvedev's sister) 1-6 6-2 7-6, and losing in the final 6-2 6-4 to Jana Novotn�.
Thanks to her performance in Essen, Iva qualified for the season-ending Virginia Slims Championships for the first time, but ironically it was Novotn� who beat her in the first round there, 6-2 3-6 6-1. Iva finished the year ranked #13 (#12 when the retired Martina Navr�tilov� was removed from the rankings at the start of 1995). Having scored several big upsets in 1994, the seventeen-year-old was on a mighty good career-trajectory.
At the start of the year, I set Iva three ambitious goals: to advance to her first Grand Slam quarter-final, to win her first WTA title, and to break into the top ten. She fulfilled all three goals! :-)
Iva moved from Bradenton back to Zagreb in 1995, as she was missing her family and friends. She worked with Nikki Pilic at the start of the year.
Iva made an impressive start to her season, reaching the semi-finals of her first two tournaments and losing to a top-ten player on both occasions: Kimiko Date in Tokyo and Mary Pierce in Paris. She made a shock rapid exit in Linz, however, losing 6-2 6-1 to Barbara Rittner.
Iva dished out the first double-bagel of her career, beating Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-0 6-0 en route to the quarter-finals of Hilton Head, where she lost 2-6 6-3 6-0 to Conchita Mart�nez. Iva had led 6-2 3-0, but Mart�nez won twelve games in a row! It was a ghost which was to return to haunt Iva at the Chase Championships in November.
After an inexplicable 3-6 6-4 7-6 loss to qualifier Nino Louarsabishvili in the second round (after a bye) of Houston, Iva again reached the final of Barcelona, beating Veronika Martinek 6-2 6-2, Ines Gorrochategui 6-3 6-0 (revenge is sweet!) and Katarzyna Nowak 6-3 6-1. In a repeat of the 1994 final she lost to Arantxa S�nchez Vicario, but this time 5-7 6-0 6-2 rather than just 6-0 6-2.
����������� I saw very brief highlights of the final on the TV-programme Trans World Sport - the first time I'd ever seen Iva on TV. It was quite a shock to see her with brown hair after the blonde photos from 1993! ;-) Iva often changed the style and colour of her hair in the 1990s.
Iva pushed Australian Open champion Mary Pierce all the way in the Italian Open quarter-finals. Iva lost 6-4 2-6 7-6 (7/4) after holding a match-point in the third set (which would have made it four victories over Pierce in 1995). Iva went into the French Open with the impressive record of being the only player so far in 1995 to take a set off all three reigning Grand Slam champions (S�nchez Vicario, Mart�nez and Pierce)!
Iva made a spectacular breakthrough at the French Open. Having beaten Mana Endo 6-3 6-3, Mar�a Jos� Gaidano 6-1 6-0 and Wang Shi-Ting 7-5 6-2 to reach the fourth round for the third year in a row, she scored a sensational 6-2 6-3 victory over Mary Pierce! Pierce, in turn, had thrashed Steffi Graf 6-2 6-2 in the semi-finals of the French Open 1994, but Iva outclassed her in every aspect of the game! :-) Iva won the crowd over, not only with the quality of her performance, but also by knocking up with a ballboy when Pierce went off court for a medical timeout! Not only a great player, but a great entertainer as well.
����������� The BBC televised the second set of Iva's victory over Pierce - my first time to see her play after having already been her fan for two years. She sure was worth waiting for - she hit the ball fantastically, went for her shots, displayed an endearing sunny on-court demeanour, and looked (and sounded) so cute! :-)
����������� Sadly Iva then lost tamely to Kimiko Date 7-5 6-1 in her first Grand Slam quarter-final, using moonball-tactics instead of playing properly and going for her shots like she did against Pierce. The BBC televised the first set.
It was not a happy Wimbledon for Iva, as she suffered another first-round loss, this time to Angelica Gavaldon. She seemed to be nicely on course at 5-0 up in the first set, but crashed to a 1-6 6-3 6-1 defeat which I put down to her inconsistency and inexperience on grass. The BBC showed the last two points: two return-errors by Iva.
Iva reached the quarter-finals of Toronto - the first tournament of Monica Seles's comeback from the Stabbing - thrashing Amy Frazier 6-0 6-2 but losing to Jana Novotn� 6-4 6-2. Iva congratulated Monica on her amazing victory in Toronto (she won the tournament for the loss of fourteen games), and the pair exchanged high fives. Now I had two active players to support! :-)
At the US Open, Iva suffered her second Grand Slam first-round defeat in a row, losing 6-4 6-4 to Barbara Paulus (a former top-20 player returning from injury). Paulus lost to Baudone, Baudone lost to Studen�kov�, Studen�kov� lost to Novotn�, Novotn� lost to Monica, but Monica won her semi-final to prevent the possibility of Iva ending up the wooden-spoonist for the tournament. ;-)
Iva won her first WTA Tour title at Z�rich in October. She beat Helena Vildov� 5-7 6-3 6-1, Marianne Werdel-Witmeyer 6-2 6-4, and top seed Jana Novotn� 7-6 3-6 6-3 in the quarter-finals (Iva led 7-6 3-0 then lost nine games in a row to trail 0-3 in the third, then won six games in a row). This was a major turning-point in Iva's career as Novotn� had won their first five meetings. She beat Chanda Rubin 7-6 6-0 in the semis, and second seed Mary Pierce 6-4 6-4 in the final (after 0-3 in the first). Iva thus won her first title at the age of eighteen, at a Tier I tournament - just as Jelena Dokic and Daniela Hantuchov� would do in the future.
Iva then won her second title in eight days in gritty fashion, taking Filderstadt with wins over Gigi Fern�ndez 6-4 6-4, Elena Likhovtseva 6-1 7-6, Pierce (again) 2-6 6-3 6-2 (despite Iva nearly having to default due to a stomach-muscle problem), Rubin (again) 6-4 1-6 7-6, and defying fatigue to beat Gabriela Sabatini 6-4 7-6 (7/4) in the final! :-) These results were enough for Iva to break into the top ten for the first time at #8. Sadly for me she pulled out of Brighton because her doctors ordered her to rest, and dropped to #9, at which ranking she was to finish the year.
Iva qualified for the season-ending Chase Championships for the second time, but fell at the first hurdle again. Iva played near-perfect tennis to lead Conchita Mart�nez 6-1 4-1, and had a match-point at 5-4 in the second. Had she converted, it would have been her first victory over a current world number two, and would have taken her past $1,000,000 in career prize-money. But the 1994 Wimbledon champion suddenly snapped into action, and poor Iva didn't win another game, losing 1-6 7-5 6-0.
����������� It was later revealed that Mart�nez had cheated by having ballgirls hold icepacks to her stiff neck. That's illegal - but by the time the officials found out, it was too late to take action. :-||
Iva won the Hopman Cup for Croatia, with just a little help from Goran Ivanisevic. In the round-robin section, they beat France 3:0 (Iva beat Catherine Tanvier 6-1 6-2; Iva and Goran beat Tanvier and Arnaud Boetsch 3-6 6-1 (7/4)), beat the USA 2:1 (Iva lost to Chanda Rubin 7-5 6-0; Iva and Goran beat Rubin and Richey Reneberg 6-4 6-2) and lost to South Africa 1:2 (Iva lost to Amanda Coetzer 6-4 3-6 6-1; Iva and Goran lost to Coetzer and Wayne Ferreira 6-4 3-6 7-6).
����������� In the final they beat Switzerland 2:1. Iva lost to fifteen-year-old Martina Hingis 6-3 6-0, but in the mixed doubles Iva and Goran beat Hingis and Marc Rosset 3-6 7-6 5-5 (0/15) retired after Rosset broke his finger by punching an advertising-board in anger after Iva had saved Switzerland's fourth match-point at 4-5 with an ambitious forehand-winner. It felt like only half a win, but it lifted a lot of downcast spirits in Croatia.
Iva played the Australian Open for the first time in her career, having missed it in previous years because of schoolwork, I believe. She reached her second Grand Slam quarter-final, beating Elena Makarova 6-4 6-2, Lori McNeil 6-3 6-2, Alexandra Fusai 6-2 6-1 and Sabine Appelmans 6-2 6-2. Monica Seles beat her 6-1 6-2 on her way to the title, but it's better to be eaten by Monica than fed by anyone else! ;-).
Iva enjoyed one of the major highlights of her career (second only to the French Open 1997) at the Tokyo Pan Pacific Open the following week, where she won her third WTA title. She beat Zina Garrison-Jackson 6-2 6-4 and Brenda Schultz-McCarthy 7-6 7-5, then she defeated three world number ones back-to-back to take the title: Monica Seles (current #1) 1-6 7-6 (7/5) 6-4, Martina Hingis (future #1) 3-6 6-3 6-0, and Arantxa S�nchez-Vicario (former #1) 6-4 6-1 in the final. This result took Iva to her career-high ranking of world number four for the first time.
Playing as the top seed for the first time in her career, Iva was runner-up in Paris, beating Nathalie Dechy 4-6 6-4 6-1 and Magdalena Maleeva 1-6 7-5 6-3 to reach the final, where she lost to Julie Halard-Decugis 7-5 7-6 (after a 5-1 lead) in a match littered with horrendous line-calls against Iva, who had a cold and burst into tears at the end.
Iva also won the Faber Grand Prix at Essen that February. This time she justified her top seeding, beating Elena Makarova 6-4 6-2, Els Callens 7-5 6-4, �sa Carlsson 6-3 6-2, and Jana Novotn� 7-5 1-6 7-6 (8/6) in the final! Iva looked stunningly beautiful. Sadly, though, it was to be her last title until she successfully defended it in 1997, as things went mainly downhill for the rest of 1996.
Iva's next tournament was on the green clay of Hilton Head in early April, where she lost to Novotn� 4-6 6-2 6-3 in the quarter-finals. She didn't seem to enjoy playing in Croatia, as she lost 6-1 2-6 6-3 to Gloria Pizzichini in the second round of Bol. She was a semi-finalist both at Rome (losing to Conchita Mart�nez 6-4 6-7 6-2) and Berlin (losing 7-5 6-1 to Steffi Graf).
Iva repeated her French Open quarter-final appearance, beating Silke Meier 6-3 6-4, Rita Grande 6-3 7-6, Sandrine Testud 4-6 7-5 6-4 and Gala Le�n Garc�a 6-3 6-1. But sadly she lost to Steffi Graf by that last score. :-(
Iva didn't enter Wimbledon, despite playing the warm-up tournament in Rosmalen the week before (she lost 6-1 6-1 to Helena Sukov� in the quarter-finals). I was heartbroken when I learned of Iva's non-participation through Iva's omission in the Wimbledon-seedings, for I'd had my heart set on seeing her play at Wimbledon now that she'd got her ranking surely high enough to attract televisation. The reason for her non-entry remains the Great Majoli Mystery to this day. IMO the most plausible explanation is a high-school graduation-ceremony.
Iva reached the quarter-finals of the Atlanta Olympics, beating Nicole Bradtke 3-6 6-3 6-4, Virginia Ruano-Pascual 7-5 6-3 and Karina Hab�udov� 6-4 3-6 6-4. She lost to eventual Gold Medallist Lindsay Davenport 7-5 6-3 in the quarter-finals.
Iva lost to Yayuk Basuki in the second round (after a bye) at Montr�al as her only other preparation for another disastrous US Open, where she lost 2-6 6-3 6-1 to the cultured Judith Wiesner in the first round.
Iva reached the final at Leipzig, beating Silvia Farina 6-4 6-2, Lindsay Davenport 6-7 7-6 7-6 and Helena Sukov� 7-5 6-4. But all was not well, as she was in tears (no reason was given) while losing 5-7 6-3 6-1 to Anke Huber in the final after having been 7-5 3-0 up.
Iva failed in her first title-defence at Filderstadt, where she lost in the quarter-finals 6-4 7-5 to her US Open conqueror Judith Wiesner. She also lost her title at Z�rich a week later, losing 5-7 6-2 6-2 to Jana Novotn� in the semi-finals although she did get revenge against Wiesner 6-2 6-2, and beat Brenda Schultz-McCarthy 6-3 7-6 in the quarter-finals. The loss of these titles set her back from #4 to #7 at the end of the year.
Iva lost to Meredith McGrath 6-3 6-2 in the second round (after a bye) of Chicago ("It was like I never played tennis before"), and at Philadelphia she lost in the second round to Chanda Rubin after another 6-2 6-2 win over Wiesner in the first round.
Iva pulled herself together for the Chase Championships, beating Anke Huber 7-5 6-3 (her first win in her third season-ending championship) and Conchita Mart�nez 7-6 7-6 (avenging her 1995 defeat). Iva startled everyone in that match by pulling up gasping for breath in the middle of a game and returning to her chair, requesting medical attention - the problem was a displaced rib. She then lost a thrilling semi-final of fierce baseline-rallies 6-2 4-6 6-1 to Martina Hingis.
Iva started the year of her first Grand Slam title with a poor Australian hardcourt season, losing in the quarter-finals of Sydney to Mary Joe Fern�ndez 7-5 6-4, and in the first round of the Australian Open to Patty Schnyder 7-5 6-1. Iva doesn't like playing in extreme heat, and perhaps she also didn't like the soft balls.
She failed to defend her Tokyo Pan Pacific Open title when she lost to Steffi Graf 6-2 6-3 in the quarter-finals. She then lost 6-1 6-3 to Martina Hingis in the semi-finals of Paris - it would be a very different story when they next met in Paris! ;-)
Iva had gone a year without winning a title until she successfully defended her Faber Grand Prix title, this time at Hanover. She beat Yayuk Basuki 7-5 6-1, Anne-Ga�lle Sidot 4-6 7-6 6-4 and Barbara Paulus 7-6 6-4 to reach the final, where again she beat Jana Novotn�, 4-6 7-6 (7/2) 6-4 after saving match-point in the second set. If she had lost at that tournament, she would have dropped out of the top ten - as it was, she was in the top ten continuously from October 1995 to May 1998.
Iva lost in the third round of Indian Wells to sixteen-year-old qualifier Venus Williams 7-5 3-6 7-5. This began an incredible sequence of eight three-set matches for Iva, during which she lost to Novotn� in the quarter-finals of the Lipton, and to Anke Huber in the third round of Hilton Head. Pam Shriver, commentating at Wimbledon, would say that Iva "looked as close as I've ever seen to a player breaking down on the court" during this period.
Iva enlisted Nick Bollettieri as a direct coach, and began the run of form that would culminate in her winning the French Open. At Amelia Island she beat Angeles Montolio 6-3 6-2, Alexandra Fusai 6-0 6-2, Conchita Mart�nez 1-6 6-3 6-3, and lost to her good friend Mary Pierce 2-6 7-5 7-6 in the semi-finals.
Iva won her first claycourt title, Hamburg in May - ironically the tournament at which Monica was stabbed in 1993. At the time, I felt that Iva winning the tournament erased the stain from Hamburg, but now I have to say that it still remains, and as a Selesian I don't approve of playing in Germany, where the corrupt law didn't even give G�nther Parche a custodial sentence. Anyway, Iva beat Mag�i Serna 6-4 7-6, Mary Pierce 2-6 6-4 6-4, Selesian player Mar�a Antonia S�nchez Lorenzo 6-2 6-3, and regular doubles-partner Ruxandra Dragomir 6-3 6-2 in the final.
Iva lost 4-6 6-4 6-3 to Dragomir in the third round of the Italian Open, and Mary Pierce 6-1 6-4 in the quarter-finals of Berlin (after beating Ines Gorrochategui 6-3 7-5 and Gloria Pizzichini 6-4 6-2).
And then, of course, Iva won the French Open, despite having not won a match in a Grand Slam since the 1996 French Open. Iva beat Sandra Kleinov� 7-5 6-4, Alexandra Fusai 6-2 6-3 and Ann Grossman 6-1 4-6 6-1 to reach the fourth round. There she upset fifth seed and future world number one Lindsay Davenport 5-7 6-4 6-2, showing the power of positive thinking by coming back from 5-7 0-4 down, winning 12 of the next 14 games! She then beat Dragomir again, in a match of lovely rapport, 6-3 4-6 7-5 to reach her first (and latest) Grand Slam semi-final. She ground out a 6-3 4-6 7-5 win over 11th seed Amanda Coetzer to reach the final, despite having not slept the night before due to a debilitating virus - she's so gritty!
����������� Then Iva made a triple-gear change for that superb 6-4 6-2 drubbing of Hingis in the final! Iva didn't drop her serve in the whole match - in fact she didn't even have to face a break-point! She broke once at 3-3 in the first set, and from 1-2 down in the second she didn't lose another game! Hingis caused controversy with a four-minute bathroom-break at 2-3, and took an injury time-out at 2-5 to have her thighs massaged, but Iva held her nerve and her serve to seal her glory. Iva was the only player to beat Hingis in a Grand Slam in 1997.
����������� Iva's French Open victory restored her to her highest ranking of #4 - this time with only three players ranked above her (when she reached #4 in 1996, Monica Seles and Steffi Graf were co-ranked #1).
Iva was involved in a memorable controversy at her next tournament, Eastbourne, on grass: despite her being the newly-crowned French Open champion, they put her on a crappy outside court (where she lost to Natasha Zvereva 6-2 7-5), giving Centre Court preference to Monica Seles (quite rightly), Jana Novotn� (fair enough) and Venus Williams (who, at the time, was a lowly-ranked but overhyped seventeen-year-old).
����������� "Even if my dog won the French Open, he would deserve to play on Centre Court," Iva said. The thing that has always annoyed me as an Iva fan is how she has always been criminally underrated by the media, even when she was world number four and reigning French Open champion - the media gave their attention instead to overhyped youngsters such as Williams and Anna Kournikova. I feel strongly that media attention should be earned by on-court success, not by what the media think the public want to see.
Iva won her first singles-match at Wimbledon ever, beating Mariana Diaz-Oliva 2-6 6-0 6-3, much to both our joy! In the second round she beat Marion Maruska 6-3 6-3. The BBC showed Iva's third-round match against my compatriot Karen Cross: Iva had a back injury, and was losing 4-6 2-5, and then faced a match point on her serve at 3-5 30/40, which she saved with a forehand winner. Iva fought back and won that match 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 - a very brave and gritty performance, which is a quality I really admire in Iva. She played brilliant tennis to fight back in the second set, too - fantastic spreading rallies, and she hit the ball with serious `oomph' and accuracy.
����������� Iva then had another gritty win, 6-7 6-1 9-7 over Irina Spirlea in the fourth round - she's certainly got the stomach for the fight! She then lost 7-6 (7/1) 6-4 to Anna Kournikova in the quarter-finals, which the BBC televised - the first set featured some great, fluctuating tennis, but Iva looked very tired in the second set.
Sadly, after Wimbledon 1997 Iva embarked on a major slump, reaching no more finals for three years, and regularly losing in the first or second round of tournaments. The slump began with the shock and pressure of being a Grand Slam champion, excessive partying and an apparent lack of desire. It would get much worse from 1998 onwards as she suffered a series of injuries, and was also exacerbated by the increasing depth of women's tennis. This period severely tested my faith in Iva, but I continue to support her through thick and thin because I have really come to love and care about her over the years.
Iva lost her opening match at Toronto 7-5 6-7 6-1 to Ai Sugiyama, who commented on how very tired Iva looked. It was one of many occasions when Iva has tanked 6-1 in the third.
Iva reached the semi-finals of Atlanta with an impressive 6-2 7-5 win over Brenda Schultz-McCarthy. But she lost 7-5 6-3 to Sandrine Testud, who had beaten Monica at Wimbledon, and who also beat Iva in the second round of the US Open 6-4 2-6 6-1.
Iva lost to Anke Huber in the quarter-finals of Leipzig, to Patty Schnyder 6-2 6-2 in her opening match at Filderstadt, and to Sabine Appelmans in her opening match at Z�rich. She pulled out of Moscow with severe symptoms of influenza, then lost to Nathalie Tauziat in the semi-finals of Chicago, and to Anke Huber in the first round of Philadelphia.
Iva immediately avenged the Huber defeat 7-6 7-6 in the first round of the Chase Championships, but lost again to Tauziat in the quarter-finals, also in two tiebreak-sets. Iva has never qualified for the season-ending championships since. She finished the year ranked #6.
Iva played in the eight-player Masters of Champions exhibition-event at Frankfurt in December. She qualified for the semi-finals by winning all three of her round-robin matches: Mary Joe Fern�ndez 7-5 6-3, Irina Spirlea 6-3 7-5, and Lindsay Davenport 2-6 6-2 6-2. She lost to Anke Huber 6-3 6-4 in the semi-finals.
Iva got off to a good start at the Australian Open, beating Naoko Sawamatsu 6-4 6-2 and Mirjana Lucic 7-5 6-4. But she suffered a shocking 6-0 6-2 defeat by Tamarine Tanasugarn in the third round which left her "shocked, amazed, bewildered and astonished." The last point the BBC has ever showed of Iva came from that match. Sadly, it was to set the tone for the rest of the year.
Iva suffered another 6-0 6-2 defeat in the semi-finals of her next tournament, the Tokyo Pan Pacific Open, to Martina Hingis, who was eager for revenge in their first meeting since the French Open 1997. Iva then lost to Dominique van Roost in the quarter-finals of Paris, and to Patty Schnyder 6-1 6-3 in her opening match at Hanover where she was the defending champion.
Iva reached what was to be her last semi-final for over two years at Linz: she beat Magdalena Maleeva 6-1 6-1 and Lisa Raymond 7-6 4-6 6-3, then retired against Dominique van Roost with a back-injury after losing the first set 6-2. It was the first time Iva had ever retired from a match in her career.
Moving on to the claycourt season, Iva lost to Mariaan de Swardt in her opening match at Hilton Head. She won her first-ever meeting with Jennifer Capriati 6-4 6-1 in the third round of Amelia Island, but lost 6-3 6-2 to Mary Pierce in the quarter-finals.
Iva failed to defend her Hamburg title when she lost 7-5 6-2 to Barbara Schett in the second round (after a bye). So she dropped out of the top ten, having been there continuously since her first entry in October 1995 - and this was before all those points for winning the French Open came off. ':-(
Iva lost to Anna Kournikova in the third round of the Italian Open, and 6-1 6-2 to Martina Hingis in the third round of Berlin. This was enough to nudge Iva back up to #10 just in time for the French Open.
Iva made a valiant attempt to defend her French Open title: "I know defending my title will be tough, but it's a challenge." She beat Pavlina Stoyanova 6-3 6-1, Natasha Zvereva 6-3 6-4 and Mariana Diaz-Oliva 6-2 7-6 to reach her sixth fourth round in six consecutive French Opens.
����������� Sunday night saw Iva tied 7-6 6-7 with seventh-seeded claycourt-expert Conchita Mart�nez, the match suspended due to failing light. On Monday morning, Mart�nez went 3-1 ahead in the third, but she got tight and Iva increased her aggression to win all remaining games for a 7-6 6-7 6-3 victory. Her defence was ended in the quarter-finals by second seed Lindsay Davenport, 6-1 5-7 6-3, and she dropped out of the top ten for good.
I was hoping that the loss of her French Open title would have a cathartic effect on Iva, since she seemed to have very little left to lose. Unfortunately, she was to lose almost everything she had before she started going back up again (in 2000).
Iva won a mouthwatering match with Karina Hab�udov� 6-2 6-3 in the first round of Wimbledon. But it would have been better for Iva if Karina had won. In the second round, Iva was staring down the barrel of a double bagel at 0-6 0-5 against 16th-seeded grasscourt-expert Nathalie Tauziat. Iva then won one single game, but couldn't escape a dispapsinating 6-0 6-1 defeat in 39 minutes.
����������� My immediate reaction to Iva's loss was to disown her. For the next couple of weeks, I carried on like I'd never heard of her, let alone was a fan of hers. But then I realised that I couldn't just switch off my feelings for Iva like that, that the bonds of fanship were too deep to be dissolved, that true fanship is an irrevocable commitment.
Iva suffered similar humiliation in the Fed Cup World Group play-offs in late July, when she lost 6-1 6-0 to Amanda Hopmans. But she also beat Miriam Oremans 6-2 6-2 to seal the tie as Croatia beat the Netherlands 3:2 to qualify for the World Group in 1999.
Iva lost to Joannette Kruger in the second round at Carlsbad, and Martina Hingis ruined her 21st birthday by beating her 6-3 6-3 in the second round at Manhattan Beach. Iva lost to Sandrine Testud in the second round of Montr�al (after a good 6-3 6-1 thrashing of Barbara Paulus in the first round).
In the first round of the US Open, Iva beat fellow former #4 Anke Huber 6-3 6-3, who was coming back from an Achilles injury. In the second round she lost 7-6 6-0 to Hingis, though the first set was reminiscent of that French Open final. After that, she was out of action for a while with a shoulder-injury.
Iva lost to Nadejda Petrova in the first round of Moscow, and to Evgenia Koulikovskaya (the girl with two forehands) in the second round of Luxembourg. She lost to Dominique van Roost in the second round of Leipzig, and to Amy Frazier in the first round of Philadelphia. She failed to qualify for the Chase Championships, and finished the year ranked #25.
Iva suffered the worst year of her career in terms of injuries. First, she had to miss the Australian Open with a stress-fracture in her right foot. Later, she would have to miss the French Open and Wimbledon with a shoulder-injury.
Iva started the year at the Tokyo Pan Pacific Open in February, but lost 6-1 6-2 to Mary Joe Fern�ndez in the first round. She lost to Ai Sugiyama 2-6 7-5 6-3 in the first round of Hanover. She beat Elena Tatarkova 7-5 6-2 in the first round of Paris, but lost to Nathalie Dechy 2-6 6-2 2-6 in the second round. She lost to Fabiola Zuluaga in the first round of the Lipton.
Iva enjoyed a mini-revival at the Family Circle Cup at Hilton Head, where she beat Emmanuelle Gagliardi 7-5 5-7 6-4 and ninth seed Irina Spirlea 1-6 6-4 6-2. In the third round she lost 7-6 6-3 to Patty Schnyder - who she would beat in the final of the same tournament at Charleston 2002.
����������� My confidence in Iva was given a boost when she gave a very encouraging interview at this tournament. She claimed to be committing herself to a comeback to the top five, that she was mentally "with it" again, and that she had appointed Gavin Hopper as coach (he had coached Monica Seles in 1998). It was so cruel that Iva was about to be struck down by injury again, just when it looked like she was going to be on her way back to the top.
Iva was beaten by Chanda Rubin 7-6 4-6 10-8 and by Monica Seles 6-0 6-3 as Croatia lost 0:5 to the United States of America in their Fed Cup World Group quarter-final tie. I got to see highlights of Monica v Iva on Trans World Sport! :-)
Iva lost in the second round of Amelia Island (before the Fed Cup tie) 3-6 6-4 6-2 to Ines Gorrochategui, and 6-2 7-5 to compatriot Jelena Kostanic in the second round of Bol - she had beaten qualifier Zuzana Hejdov� 6-2 6-4 in the first round. It was to be the last match Iva would win for 51 weeks.
Iva then suffered the worst injury of her career: a right-shoulder injury that forced her out of the French Open and Wimbledon, wrecking a whole year for her and even threatening to end her career.
Iva returned to the tour in July 1999, but her ranking was so low (#72) that she had to rely on wild cards to get into the main draws of tournaments, or else play in the qualifying. With hindsight, it would have been better if she'd had surgery immediately and not played at all for the rest of 1999, not only because she failed to win a single match, but also because she could have claimed an injury-protected ranking of #31 - as she was ranked immediately after Bol - when she returned in 2000.
Iva lost 6-1 6-1 to Sandrine Testud at Stanford, then lost to Ai Sugiyama in the first qualifying round of San Diego - the first time she'd played qualifying since 1992. She lost 6-1 6-4 to Julie Halard-Decugis at Manhattan Beach, and 6-3 6-4 to Jelena Dokic at Toronto - the first tournament ever to feature both Iva and Jelena, and Monica! :-)
Iva played her only Grand Slam of 1999 at the US Open, losing in the first round 6-1 7-5 to Jennifer Capriati. She had surgery on her shoulder after the US Open, and did not play again until March 2000. By the end of 1999 she had fallen to #164 in the rankings, and according to ace (British tennis-magazine) she wasn't "terribly bothered" about continuing her tennis-career.
On a lighter note, when Iva retires from tennis she could have a new career as a pop star! She did a song called "Da Tebe Mi Nema" ("You Forget My Name"? Sorry, I don't really know any Croatian ;-)) with Sandi Cenov in June 1999. From what I can gather from Croatian sources, it appears that they sung this at a festival and/or released it as a single.
Actually, I do know a bit of Croatian now: "Ja volim Ivu" ("I love Iva" - "Ivu" is the accusative of "Iva") and "Dobro igrano!" ("Well played!") :-)
Iva returned from her shoulder-surgery at the Ericsson Open in March, by which time she was oscillating around #200 in the rankings. She lost to Fabiola Zuluaga 7-6 7-5 in the first round. She then played the West Palm challenger - her first challenger since 1992. She lost to Henrieta Nagyov� 6-0 6-2 in the first round. She then lost 6-3 6-1 to Anna Smashnova (Pistolesi) in the first round of Amelia Island, by which time her ranking had dropped to an incredible #466.
I hoped and prayed that Iva would break her nine-match losing streak, if only to encourage her to continue her career, and sure enough she had a 1-6 7-6 7-5 win over Meghann Shaughnessy at Hilton Head on 18th April 2000 - her first since 27th April 1999. She was flayed 6-1 6-1 by Elena Dementieva in the second round, but her ranking shot up to #312.
After a few weeks practicing in Zagreb, Iva played again in Madrid and won three matches to reach the semi-finals! In the first round she beat Patricia Wartusch 6-3 5-7 7-5. Her win over seventh seed Kristina Brandi in the second round really impressed me because Iva came back from 2-5 down in the final set. This shows that she's still very gritty, and how much she wants to get back! Iva was leading 6-1 1-0 in the quarter-finals when Germana di Natale retired with an elbow-injury. Iva lost 6-3 6-4 to Fabiola Zuluaga in the semi-finals. Her ranking rose to #193.
Iva also had a gritty 6-7 7-5 6-4 win in the first round of the French Open against Cristina Torrens Valero (who had served for the match at 7-6 5-4), but sadly Iva's luck ran out in the second round as she lost to �sa Carlsson 7-6 1-6 6-1.
Sadly for me, Iva skipped Wimbledon and played two challengers in Italy instead: Orbetello (losing to Flora Perfetti in the second round) and Civitanova (losing to Emmanuelle Gagliardi in the semi-finals). She also skipped the US Open - perhaps to save herself for the Olympics.
Iva received one of the fourteen ITF wild cards for the Sydney Olympics (the 64-player draw was made up of 48 players based on the rankings as of 10th July 2000 (but no more than three players of each nationality), fourteen wild cards awarded by the ITF, and two `tripartite' wild cards awarded jointly by the ITF, the IOC, and national Olympic committees). The news about the Olympic wild card broke two days before Iva's 23rd birthday (she was born on 12th August 1977) - what a wonderful present! :-) When I heard that she had received a wild card for the Olympics, it was my happiest moment of the year 2000! :-) Although she sadly lost in the first round of both singles (6-2 6-4 to Anne Kremer) and doubles, I was just delighted that she got to play the Olympics, having missed Wimbledon and the US Open. When I spotted her in the Croatian team in the opening ceremony, it made my day! :-)
Iva's form took an encouraging upswing after the Olympics: she was runner-up at the Poitiers Challenger, where her victims included sixth seed Sandra Kleinov�, Mar�a Antonia S�nchez Lorenzo of the Seles Groundstrokes, and top seed �sa Carlsson - sweet revenge for the French Open! :-) Sadly, Iva lost to Ludmila Cervanov� 4-6 6-3 6-2 in the final.
Iva lost in the first round of Linz to Elena Likhovtseva, and in the first round of Bratislava to Slyvia Plischke, after winning three matches to qualify - I'm glad she swallowed her pride and played a Tier IVB event, and qualified rather than taking a wild card, because it gave her more match play at an easier level, which is what she needed then.
Iva beat Sabine Appelmans 7-5 1-6 6-3 in the first round of Leipzig, which gave me great joy as it was her first win outside challengers and qualifying since the French Open. She lost 6-2 6-3 to Elena Dementieva in the second round.
Iva then reached the final of Kuala Lumpur, beating second seed Jelena Dokic 7-5 3-6 6-4 in the second round - a mouthwatering match for me, as I am a big fan of both. Iva then beat Pavlina Nola and fifth seed Tatiana Panova to reach the final, where she lost to Henrieta Nagyov� 6-4 6-2. :-(
Iva beat Iroda Tulyaganova 7-5 6-4 in the first round of Pattaya, but lost in the second round to home-player Tamarine Tanasugarn, and was angry about the noise coming from a nearby food-area, and a bad call late in the match. Then Iva played one more challenger in December, at Cergy Pontoise, where she reached the final (beating second seed Angeles Montolio 6-2 6-4 in the semi-finals) but was runner-up once again, to qualifier Virginie Razzano, who, ironically, had been that fourteen-year-old French girl who made a speech before the start of the 1997 French Open final.
Iva beat Barbara Schett 6-4 6-4 in the semi-finals of the St. Anton exhibition-tournament in Austria in December! But she lost the final 6-3 7-5 to her old nemesis Patty Schnyder.
Iva finished the year ranked #62.
Iva started the new year with a 6-7 6-1 7-6 loss to talented sixteen-year-old Lina Krasnoroutskaya at Gold Coast, followed by a loss to Greta Arn in the first round of qualifying for Canberra. But at the Australian Open she beat Kristina Brandi 6-2 7-6 and Karina Hab�udov� 6-4 6-2 before losing to 13th seed Am�lie Mauresmo by that score in the third round.
Iva beat Nicole Pratt 6-4 6-0 and seventh seed Lisa Raymond 6-7 6-2 7-6 to reach the quarter-finals of the Tokyo Pan Pacific Open, where she was thrashed 6-2 6-0 by Lindsay Davenport. Iva then lost to Mag�i Serna in the first round of Paris, and retired with left-side rib-pain at 0-4 down to Joannette Kruger in the first round of Dubai. However, she won her first (and latest) doubles-title at Paris, as she and Virginie Razzano beat Kimberly Po and Nathalie Tauziat 6-3 7-5 in the final.
Iva continued to make slow but sure progress in 2001, reaching the second round of Indian Wells (beating Marlene Weing�rtner and losing to Lisa Raymond) and the third round of the Ericsson Open (beating Mar�a Jos� Mart�nez and Kristina Brandi, and losing to Amanda Coetzer). She was playing a lot of tournaments in order to repair her ranking, which had gone up to #41 so far (she was aiming for the top 20 by the summer).
����������� After her first-round win at the Ericsson Open, Iva said: "I had a lot of injuries one after the other. The shoulder-surgery took me almost two years to recover from. I feel I have more years to play."
Iva lost 6-3 6-1 to Anastasia Myskina in the first round of Amelia Island, but as often happened in these later years of her career, she had a boost at the Family Circle Cup, which had now moved to Charleston: she beat Jelena Dokic 6-3 0-6 6-2, Alexandra Stevenson 6-1 6-3, and pushed world number one Martina Hingis to 4-6 6-2 6-3 in the third round.
Iva's red-clay season was disastrous, however, as she lost to Am�lie Mauresmo 6-3 6-1 in the first round of Berlin, to Rita Kuti Kis in the first round of the Italian Open, and worst of all to Rita Grande in the first round of the French Open - the one Grand Slam where she had never previously lost in the first round.
Iva suffered her third first-round Wimbledon defeat (after a three-year absence from the tournament), losing 7-6 6-3 to 17th seed Meghann Shaughnessy. She suffered more embarrassing losses thereafter: to Eva Bes in the first round of Vienna, and to Miriam Oremans in the first qualifying round of New Haven - although before that tournament she had pushed Serena Williams to 7-6 6-1 in the second round of Toronto, and Williams appreciated the competitive first set.
Iva was involved in one of the matches of the year at the US Open. Having beaten Tatiana Panova 6-1 6-1 and Barbara Rittner 6-4 7-5, she pushed top seed Martina Hingis to 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7/5) in the third round. Iva bristled with aggression, with blistering backhand-winners and even unsettling Hingis with all-court tennis, although she struggled against the sweltering heat and the guile of Hingis. Iva fought back superbly from two breaks down in the final set, and even went 4/2 up in the tiebreak before bowing out of the classic contest.
Iva lost 6-1 6-2 to Jelena Dokic in the second round of Bahia, but reached the final of Qu�bec the next week, beating Melanie Marois 7-5 6-4, Alena Vaskov� 6-3 6-2, Jennifer Hopkins 1-6 6-4 6-4 and Martina Such� 6-4 7-5. She was thrashed 6-1 6-3 in the final by her Wimbledon conqueror Meghann Shaughnessy.
Iva lost 6-3 6-2 to lucky loser Anastasia Myskina in the first round of Leipzig, and to qualifier Miriam Oremans 5-7 6-2 6-3 in the first round of Filderstadt. She qualified for Z�rich, including a 6-4 7-5 revenge-win over Oremans, and a 6-7 7-5 6-3 win over Alexandra Stevenson. In the main draw she beat Arantxa S�nchez-Vicario 7-6 6-2 before losing to Sandrine Testud 7-6 6-4 in the second round.
Iva's year finished with a 7-6 6-7 6-3 defeat by Jelena Dokic in the first round of Linz. This elevated Iva to her highest ranking of the year at #32, although she fell back when the points from her Kuala Lumpur 2000 final came off, and finished the year ranked #44.
It was another busy year for Iva - 23 tournaments compared with 24 in 2001 - and it brought her her first title for five years, although she was otherwise still very much in the wilderness.
The year began with a Nightmare on the Gold Coast as she lost in the first round to Joannette Kruger. She lost in the first round of Canberra too, then revealed she was struggling with a shoulder-injury which might keep her out of the Australian Open.
Iva's Australian Open chances looked very bleak when she drew 14th seed Arantxa S�nchez-Vicario in the first round, but she pulled off a miraculous 6-4 7-5 upset! But she lost in the second round, 6-4 6-3 to Janette Hus�rov�.
Iva lost to qualifier Virginie Razzano in the first round of Indian Wells. In Miami she beat Vera Zvonar�va in the first round and lost to Magdalena Maleeva in the second. She lost in the first round of Sarasota to Gala Le�n Garc�a. She thrashed 11th seed Amanda Coetzer 6-2 6-1 in the first round of Amelia Island, but lost to Conchita Mart�nez in the second.
Then Iva found a miraculous run of form to win the Tier I tournament at Charleston, her first title since the French Open 1997 and the eighth of her career. She won six matches in a row, beating Bianka Lamade 7-5 6-3, Marie-Ga�an� Mikaelian 6-2 6-3, Anna Smashnova (Pistolesi) 6-1 3-6 6-2, 13th seed Amanda Coetzer 6-3 7-5, and seventh seed Sandrine Testud 6-2 6-4 to reach the final.
����������� In the final she beat fellow unseeded player Patty Schnyder 7-6 (7/5) 6-4. This was an amazing win for Iva, particularly as Schnyder held a 4-0 head-to-head record against her, and had beaten Serena Williams, Jennifer Capriati and Am�lie Mauresmo on her way to the final. Iva was overwhelmed with the emotion of winning her first title for five years, and couldn't articulate her feelings into words. Her ranking jumped from #58 to #33.
Iva was runner-up in her next tournament: Bol. She put in her best results ever on Croatian soil, beating Ludmila Cervanov� 4-6 6-4 6-2, Jelena Kostanic 2-6 6-4 7-6, Vera Zvonar�va 6-2 6-0, and Libuse Prusov� 6-7 7-5 6-4 (despite suffering from exhaustion, and saving three match-points at 6-7 4-5) - her tenth win on the WTA Tour in a row! Sadly she was too tired for the final, and lost 6-3 4-6 6-1 to �sa Svensson (n�e Carlsson). Her ranking rose to #27.
Iva lost to Mag�i Serna in the first round of Madrid, and Ludmila Cervanov� took revenge for her Bol defeat 4-6 6-3 6-0 in the second round of the French Open, where Iva could have been a real factor after Charleston. Iva reached the quarter-finals of Vienna, losing to the very sexy Iroda Tulyaganova 3-6 6-2 7-5.
Iva put in a reasonable performance at Wimbledon, beating Tina Pisnik 6-3 6-4 and Vera Zvonar�va 7-6 6-2 before losing 7-5 6-2 to 12th seed Elena Dementieva in the third round. Once again, the BBC didn't bat an eyelid! :-||
Back in April, Iva had helped Croatia to secure a 3:2 victory over the Czech Republic in the first round of the Fed Cup World Group. Iva had lost her singles-rubbers to Iveta Benesov� and Klara Koukalov�, both 6-4 6-1, but had teamed up with Jelena Kostanic to win the deciding doubles-rubber 6-1 6-2 over Benesov� and Eva Birnerov�. In July, Croatia lost 1:4 to Austria in the quarter-finals, Iva losing 6-2 6-3 to Barbara Schwartz, but delaying Austria's victory with a 6-4 6-3 win over Barbara Schett in the third rubber.
Iva made a woeful start to the North American hardcourt season, losing 6-2 6-2 to Gala Le�n Garc�a in the first round of Helsinki, and 6-3 6-1 to Nathalie Dechy in the first round of Montr�al. At New Haven she beat Silvia Farina Elia 6-2 4-6 7-6 before losing in the second round 4-6 6-4 6-1 to the wonderful Daniela Hantuchov�.
With her ranking at #22 - the highest it's ever been post-1998 - Iva reached the third round of the US Open, beating wild card Ashley Harkleroad 6-3 6-2 and Katarina Srebotnik 6-4 6-4. Then she ran into Daniela again, who imposed her class with a 6-3 6-1 whipping. It's funny how often in tennis you play someone for the first time, then play them again almost immediately! ;-)
At Bahia, Iva thrashed wild card Carla Tiene 6-2 6-1 in the first round, but suffered a 6-2 6-3 upset by Henrieta Nagyov� in the second. She lost 7-6 6-1 to Rita Grande in the first round of Leipzig, and 6-4 6-1 to Elena Dementieva in the first round of Moscow.
Iva avenged her loss to Rita Grande 3-6 6-4 6-4 in the first round of Filderstadt, but lost 6-1 6-2 to sixth seed Kim Clijsters 6-1 6-2 in the second. She lost 6-1 6-4 to the flairsome Jelena Dokic in the first round of Z�rich, and her season ended with a 7-6 4-6 6-1 loss to serve-volleyer Paola Su�rez in the first round of Linz.
In December, Iva played in the Collins Cup at Dublin, a best-of-seven-rubbers contest between America and Europe to raise money for victims of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. Europe lost 1:6, with Iva losing by an honourable 7-5 6-4 to Serena Williams in a dead singles-rubber, having teamed up with Barbara Schett to lose to Monica Seles and Lindsay Davenport 6-2 7-6.
Iva finished the year ranked #32.
Iva's year began in the by now all-too-familiar fashion of losing in the first round on the Gold Coast, this time to Marie-Ga�an� Mikaelian. She lost to Selesian player Akiko Morigami in the second qualifying round of Sydney. She rounded off her most disastrous Australian hardcourt season yet by losing to Cristina Torrens Valero in the first round of the Australian Open.
Iva beat Alexandra Stevenson 6-3 6-3 in the first round of the Tokyo Pan Pacific Open, and lost 6-4 6-4 to Lindsay Davenport in the second round. She then lost three opening matches in a row: to Svetlana Kuznetsova in Dubai, to Vera Zvonar�va at Indian Wells, and to Flavia Pennetta at Miami - giving her a 2-7 win-loss record for the year so far.
The highlight of Iva's 2003 came at Sarasota, where she beat Anna Kournikova 6-4 4-6 6-4, Iroda Tulyaganova 5-7 6-0 7-5 and Paola Su�rez 3-6 6-3 6-2 to reach the semi-finals. She lost 6-3 6-4 to qualifier Alicia Molik. This nudged her up to #29 in the rankings, but she nosedived to #52 when the points for Charleston 2002 came off (a week early, relative to the 2003 schedule).
In defence of her Charleston title, Iva beat Lindsay Lee-Waters 6-2 7-5, then lost to Elena Dementieva 3-6 7-5 6-1 in the second round. At Budapest she beat Andreea Vanc but then pulled out of the tournament with a viral infection and high temperature.
Iva lost 6-1 6-4 to Denisa Chladkov� in the first round of Warsaw, and 7-6 3-6 6-4 to Meghann Shaughnessy in the first round of Berlin. She reached the second round of the French Open with a 4-6 7-5 6-0 win over Cho Yoon Jeong, but was hampered by a leg-injury as she crashed 6-1 6-2 to Laura Granville in the second round.
Playing despite her doctor's orders (no - not my orders! ;-)), Iva suffered an ignominious 6-0 6-1 loss to Eva Fislov� in the first round of Vienna, and it was no surprise when she was thrashed 6-3 6-0 by Eastbourne champion Chanda Rubin in the first round of Wimbledon. Her ranking dipped from #68 to #83.
Iva took a long break after Wimbledon, during which she reportedly considered retiring at the end of 2003. But she was optimistic again after attending Croatia's Fed Cup World Group play-off tie (in which she didn't play). Iva returned for the US Open, where she was soundly beaten 6-1 6-1 by Elena Likhovtseva in the first round, and dropped from #91 to #111 in the rankings.
Iva announced that she was taking the rest of 2003 off, preparing to give tennis another (one last?) shot in 2004. She broke her word by playing the ITF Poitiers at the end of October, where she lost 7-6 3-6 6-4 to Eva Birnerov� in the first round. She finished the year ranked #131.
Iva started the year with an ITF tournament at Bergamo in the second week of the Australian Open (she didn't see any point in making the long trip to Australia with the form she was in). She reached the final at Bergamo with a 5-7 6-3 6-4 over the not-at-all-unattractive Slovakian girl Dominika Nociarov� in the quarters, and the comely British girl Amanda Janes 6-3 7-6 in the semis. She lost the final to lucky loser Lucie �af�rov� - who has since revealed herself to me as a supreme talent - 3-6 7-6 6-1.
����������� Iva also reached the final of the doubles at Bergamo, with compatriot Sanda Mamic, losing 6-4 6-4 to Alberta Brianti and Kildine Chevalier.
����������� Iva's ranking plunged from #137 to #169 as the points from her first-round win at the Tokyo Pan Pacific Open 2003 came off, but rose back to #151 when the points from Bergamo were added after a week's delay (which is normal for ITF tournaments).
Iva played another ITF tournament at Ortisei the week after. She trounced top seed Maja Matevzic 6-0 6-2 in the first round, but lost 7-5 6-2 to qualifier Virag Nemeth in the second round. Apparently she was looking very fit, but unable to find any consistent form.
"I feel I have some in me left. This is the next page in my life and my career. I hope I can still play a couple more good years. This is my last chance, I think. I am really working hard now, and I am going to try and show it on the court."
Iva tried to qualify for the WTA tournament at Antwerp, but lost to Sybille Bammer 6-2 7-6 in the first qualifying round. Her woes continued at ITF St. Paul, where she lost in the first round to Jill Craybas 4-6 6-3 6-4.
Iva won her only WTA match of the year at Indian Wells, thrashing Melinda Czink 6-2 6-2 in the first round before losing 6-3 6-4 to 22nd seed Alicia Molik (who went on to have a very good year) in the second. Her ranking rose from #150 to #139.
But she lost 6-2 1-6 6-3 to qualifier Rita Grande at Miami, and 6-4 6-2 to top seed Elena Bovina at Estoril, and dropped out of the top 200 to #208 as more points from 2003 came off.
Iva played Fed Cup one last time for Croatia, who lost 2:3 to Belgium in the first round of the World Group. Iva and Darija Jurak won the dead doubles-rubber 6-4 6-1 over Elke Clijsters and Kirsten Flipkens.
Iva played what turned out to be the last tournament of her career at ITF Cagnes sur Mer, beating Galina Fokina 2-6 6-4 6-4, and bowing out 6-4 3-6 6-2 to Virginie Pichet in the second round. Perhaps it was fitting that she ended her career on French clay.
Iva's goal had been to peak at the French Open, but they didn't deign to give the 1997 Roland Garros champion a wild card! Six French players, one Australian (the French and Australians have a reciprocal agreement for getting into each other's draws) and 47-year-old Martina Navr�tilov� all took priority over giving Iva a wild card! :-|| Iva didn't play in the qualifying because she had a cold, so her ranking plummeted from #207 to #290.
Iva announced her retirement, at the age of 26, on 29th June 2004 - the second Tuesday of Wimbledon. "I have fallen too low. I am practically back at the beginning, and would have to work like a maniac to get back to the top."
It's possible Iva might still play some exhibitions or doubles-tournaments in the future.
Iva was given a retirement-ceremony at the WTA Tour Championships in Los Angeles on Sunday 14th November 2004. In honour of her achievements, she was presented with a Waterford Crystal clock by her good friend Jennifer Capriati.
Iva's ranking finished 2004 at #321. As prophesied, she dropped out of the rankings altogether on 4th April 2005 (her last ranking before she dropped out was #777), when she had played fewer than three tournaments in 52 weeks.
In April 2005, we learned that Iva had become tournament-director of a $75k ITF at Zagreb.
On 15th May 2005, Iva played beach-tennis at the Laureus Beach Festival, Estoril (she and Mansour Bahrami lost to Manuel Couto and Sofia Prazeres).
In June 2005, Iva was quoted as saying, on Croatian TV, "After I went to Roland Garros this year and saw all of my friends, and talked to Mary Pierce and saw how well is she doing - and she's a couple of years older than me - I realised that I miss tennis very much. I am still not thinking of coming back to the Tour, but maybe I'll play German Bundesliga this year and several exhibitions, and then I'll see...."
However, Iva has since settled down and started a family. She married Stipe Maric in Zagreb on 9th September 2006, and gave birth to her daughter, Mia Maric, on 31st October 2006.