Sports: Ivanisevic's wild ride is still going

WIMBLEDON, England -- Goran Ivanisevic is playing with joy again, his smile as strong as his big serve, his celebrations as strange as the amazing comeback that made them possible.

A Wimbledon finalist who hits shots between his legs? A free spirit who sheds his shirt after victories while finely dressed lords and ladies swelter in the royal box? That's Ivanisevic.

A Wimbledon champion with a bum shoulder who needed a wild card from officials just to get in the tournament? Today, that could be him, too.

Ivanisevic, the first wild card to reach the final since 1977, needed three days to finish his semifinal against Tim Henman, finally winning 7-5, 6-7 (6-8), 0-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 after just four games and 18 minutes of play Sunday.

Ivanisevic faces Patrick Rafter, who will be favored, in today's final.

"Never had so much fun in Wimbledon ever on the tennis court like I have here," the Croat said, as he often does, in broken English. "Even sometimes I enjoy to lose the point, which is stupid, but with me everything is different."

Five of Ivanisevic's 14 serves Sunday were aces, giving him 186 in six matches. He needs 21 to break his Wimbledon record of 206 set in 1992 when he was runner-up to Andre Agassi.

The 29-year-old lefty also lost in the 1994 and '98 final to seven-time champion Pete Sampras, but his career plummeted when he encountered shoulder problems last year. He entered Wimbledon this year ranked 125th in the world.

"If some angel comes tonight in my dreams and say, 'Okay, Goran you going to win Wimbledon tomorrow, but you not able to touch the racket ever again in your life,' I say, 'Okay, I rather take that and then never play tennis again,' " he said.

Henman, trying to become the first Briton since Bunny Austin in 1938 to reach a Wimbledon men's final, led 2-1 in sets and 2-1 in the fourth Friday when play was suspended by darkness after a two-hour rain delay.

"I was sort of in the process of dismantling his game," said Henman, who showed little emotion after his loss. "He obviously gets a chance to regroup."

As for Rafter, this Wimbledon final might be his last. The 28-year-old Australian, who had shoulder surgery in October 1999, plans to take six months after this year to assess his future.

This year, he was two points from defeat in his third straight Wimbledon semifinal against Agassi, but came back for an 8-6 win in the fifth set.

He figures his chances are better this year.

"I guess you feel like you're more of a contender now," Rafter said. "That's always a nice feeling going into the final."

Considering how far Ivanisevic has come, he'd hate to fall short and tie Ken Rosewall for most Wimbledon finals without a championship.

Grinning slyly once more, he called Rafter a "good friend of mine" and suggested that, since his buddy might retire, Wimbledon might be better off with him as champion.

"How he going to come to defend his title," Ivanisevic said. "So it's better that I win, you know. I am available next year. Nothing better to do, you know?"

* * *

TODAY: Men's final: Goran Ivanisevic vs. Patrick Rafter, 7 a.m. TV: Live, MSNBC; taped, 10 a.m. Ch. 8

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