5 things you should know about Ivan Ljubicic

#5 He is a decorated player – and holds a record!

Ljubicic and Ancic defeated Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi to win bronze at the 2004 Olympics

Over the course of his 14-year career, Ljubicic, who retired in 2012, won 10 ATP titles – including the 2010 Indian Wells Masters, where he defeated Andy Roddick in straight sets. Of his 10 titles, 7 came on hard courts, which may well be an indicator as to Roger Federer’s renewed success on that surface.

But the laurels don’t stop there. Ljubicic is an Olympic medal winner, and with Mario Ancic won bronze at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.

Ancic and Ljubicic were not seeded at the tournament, but defeated French third seeds Michael Llodra and Fabrice Santoro in straight sets before losing to eventual winners Fernando Gonzalez and Nicolas Massu of Chile, they then played Indian 5^th seeds Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi in the bronze medal match to take home the medal.

Ljubicic, with Ancic, is part of one of only three doubles pairs in history to have defeated the Bryan Brothers, the most successful men’s doubles pair of all time, at the Davis Cup.