Ivan Ljubicic was born on March 19, 1979.
in Banja Luka. He was second child to
his mom Hazira and father Marko. His three
year older brother's name is Vladan. A
decision to play tennis was made in the
family. During the summer school break
in 1988. Ivan's dad thought it was time
for his sons to start playing some sports.
Vladan decided to play football and Ivan
decided on tennis. He was influenced by
watching Wimbledon on TV. That's how Ivan
started practicing and one of his great
role models in the beginning was Stefan
Edberg.
Ivan began playing in "Mladen Stojanovic"
club in Banja Luka under Vojin Sukalo
and Fahret Bahtijarevic. As it is with
all the beginners, Ivan started practicing
with a group of children. He was a fast
learner so he managed to cover a relative
late start. Soon, he was receiving first
private lessons and he won his first tournament
in his native town when he was 12. Before
that, in 1990., he lost in the finals
of BiH championships in Zenica to Mirko
Pehar, his tough opponent in the early
days of his career.
