Things You need to know about Ivan Ljubičić

Roger Federer is going to enter the ATP tour 2016 with a new coaching team. He bid goodbye to his childhood hero and swiss coach Stefan Edberg and roped in the Croatian Ivan Ljubičić in his coaching staff. Federer said Swiss Davis Cup captain Severin Luthi, who has been working with the 34-year-old since 2008, will continue to serve as his main coach, with Ljubičić to assist.

Edberg wrote on the ATP’s website ,” Thank You for the two wonderful years”. During his tenure Edberg was able to bring forth the aggressive side of Roger Federer. Though Roger couldn’t get past his 17 Grand Slam titles in the tenure, he did reach the finals of Wimbledon in 2014 and 2015 as well as the U.S Open in 2015, all of which he lost to the Serbian No.1 seed, Novak Djokovic.

Moving ahead from the past, we bring you some of the facts which you need to know about Ivan Ljubičić.

1. He is originally from Bosnia

He started playing tennis from the year 1988 and soon received his first local award. However, the family had to move to Croatia in 1992 due to the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He joined a club in 1995 and won the Under-16 Championship in 1995 playing for Croatia. He reached the Finals of Junior Wimbledon Championship in 1996.

2. He is only 2 years elder to Roger Federer

The age difference of Roger and Ivan is just 2 years. Infact these 2 players have faced each other for 16 times on the court, where Ivan beat Roger 3 times. Interestingly, these two never played each other in any Grand Slam.

3. He has bag full of ATP Trophies

In his 14 year long career from 1998-2012 he was able to win 10 ATP titles along with The Davis Cup in 2005 and the Olympics bronze in Men’s Doubles in 2004 with with Mario Ančić. In the Grand Slam he was able to make it to the Quarter Finals once in Australian Open and twice in the U.S Open.

4. He has had a successful coaching stint earlier

Earlier Ivan was coach for two years of Miloš Raonić, who he helped guide to the semi-final of Wimbledon in 2014 and as high as number 4 in the world. They had parted their ways 2 weeks before this news came up.