Ivan Ljubičić

Who is Ivan Ljubičić?

Ivan Ljubičić is a retired Croatian tennis player. His career-high ATP singles ranking was World No. 3.

Tall and powerfully built, he was noted for his strong serve and fluid groundstrokes. He achieved his best results in indoor tournaments played on carpet or hardcourt. Mostly a baseliner, he approached the net selectively. On his backhand, he used a slice or a drop-shot to great effect to draw a player or put him out of position. Relying heavily on his serve, he held well but was a comparatively weak returner, producing many sets ending in tie-breaks. Ljubičić used the Head Youtek Extreme Pro Racquet, after using the Babolat Pure Drive for most of his professional career.

Ljubičić served as the ATP Players' Council president and in 2008 became one of the few active players to serve on the ATP Board of Directors.

Ljubičić and Mario Ančić are only the third doubles team ever to defeat Bob and Mike Bryan in Davis Cup history, the other teams being France's Arnaud Clément and Michaël Llodra, Brazil's Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares and Serbia's Nenad Zimonjić and Ilija Bozoljac. Ljubičić helped Croatia win the 2005 Davis Cup, where they triumphed over the Slovakian Davis Cup team in the final.