10 reasons why you should like Ivan Dodig.

Versão em português aqui.

“Who’s that guy who plays with Marcelo Melo?” I know you asked yourself at least once in your life. His name is Ivan Dodig and here I give you 10 reasons why you should like him.

1. He is synchronized with his best friend.

   

   Like in menstrual synchrony. His best friend is Marin Cilic (who’s my favorite player, hi, Marin!) and they’re like best friends forever. Super friends. Really. In 2011 they used the same speech to explain their friendship, it was bizarre.
   – Who’s your best friend on the tour?
   – My best friend is Ivan Dodig. This is his first year on the… ahn, that he broke through the top 100. And we’re coming from the same city, a really small city with five thousand people and we grew up together, practising when we were kids… I’m really happy to see him on the tour, he’s doing well, so we’re spending most of our time, when we’re playing the same tournament, together.
   – Who’s your best friend on the tour?
   – My best friend is Marin Cilic. This is my first year on the top 100 and now, when we’re playing the same tournament, we’re spending a lot of time together. And, well, we’re from the same city, a really small city, five thousand people population, we grew up practising together… I’m happy with it.

   I’m starting to collect money to buy them menstrual pads. Donate, people.

2. A black cat brought him bad luck.
   “The first time I got a wildcard in Umag. The black cat came in the court. I think this is actually not a good sign [smiles]. And I finished very fast. I think it was 6-1 6-3. It was a little bit funny. All the stories was around that cat. (Who did you lose to?) I lost to [Pablo] Cuevas.”I’m also collecting money to buy Ivan a horseshoe or a four-leaf clover.
3. He had difficult times.
   I mean, every tennis player in the beginning had a difficult time. But the worst was when he didn’t have money to travel to the tournaments. He’s croatian and it’s really hard to find sponsors there. If you’re not rich, your journey will be tough.
   That happened when he was a junior, he had to skip two years, just playing a few tournaments close to his home. He slept in stations, airports and cars to save money to play more tournaments. A fighter.Donate for Ivan from the past!
4. He is didactic.
   Do you want to watch a Dodig/Melo’s match but you don’t know what to scream for Ivan? Here he teaches you. Idemo!
   Ok, there was a video of him teaching how to say ‘idemo’ and ‘ajde’, but the uploader deleted (thanks a lot, mate), so here’s a video of Ivan changing his t-shirt.
   
5. When he’s bored in the airplane, he likes to say some things for his brazilian fans. 
   Why not? We love you.
   
   
   We got and understood everything. ♥
6. His pics with Melo.
   THE BEST.

   

   

    

7. He is the king of Croatia.
   And he punches a mattress. Too good.
8. He is famous.
   I mean, have you ever been on a party with your footballer friends? He has.

   

    

9. His mental strength is amazing.
   Does anybody remember? Rogers Cup 2011. Rafael Nadal took the first set quickly, 6/1… then Ivan simply forgot what happened and played the best tennis I’ve ever seen him playing… and he won that match, 1/6 7/6 7/6. He couldn’t believe what he did, it was beautiful, amazing, fantastic. Idemo Ivan. 🙂
10. He is a great person.
    A sweetheart. So positive. No matter what happened with him, the ups and downs never let him down and that’s why he is this amazing person. If there’s someone who deserves everything that is good in the world, this person is Ivan Dodig.
    De Witt, the director of the academy where Ivan plays, believes: “Ivan Dodig is a very good role model for many young kids, who dream about becoming a star and have to live with hard times and many setbacks. Ivan is a guy who went down, but always stood back up.”Ivan, the Terrible? I think it’s more like Ivan, the Lionheart. 🙂