Mario Ancic

By Bill Barclay

WIMBLEDON (Reuters) - Thanks mainly to Goran Ivanisevic, calmness is not normally the word most readily associated with Croatians at Wimbledon.

On Wednesday, though, a 20-year-old clone of the just-retired 2001 champion displayed that single quality above all others to end Tim Henman's annual tilt at glory.

At first glance Mario Ancic has plenty in common with Goran -- he too comes from Split, is of prodigious height, and wields a punishing serve that makes him lethal on a grass court.

But while Ivanisevic's Wimbledon career was peppered with emotional outbursts and tantrums on court, Ancic showed an altogether different temperament in his calculated 7-6, 6-4, 6-2 destruction of Henman in their quarter-final.

"I knew I had to stay calm because I was playing such a great player," Ancic said after reaching his first grand slam semi-final.

"I knew if I just lost it a little bit, things could change a lot, especially with such a crowd on his side.

"I think I had really everything under control."

Ancic earned the nickname 'Baby Goran' after signaling his talent two years ago by upsetting Roger Federer, the defending champion this year, in the first round.

He first trained with Ivanisevic aged 10. Two years later, he says, Goran advised him to "keep on breaking rackets."

Ivanisevic regularly referred to his three personalities -- Good, Bad and Emergency -- in an attempt to explain his seldom explicable antics on court.

Ancic, though, is different.

"I think only the one you see," he replied when asked how many personalities he possessed.

SECOND SERVE

The most impressive aspect of his victory over Henman was his second serve, which was often as lethal as his first, especially in the third set when the crunch came.

"In the third set ... I really played great tennis for me," he said.

"When I broke him, I was just trying to be calm. My serve help me a lot I think at that stage.

"(My coach) Rohan (Goetzkee) helped me a lot in that regard to be more aggressive.

"It really paid off in last couple matches when I was really aggressive in some points which were crucial and I won that point."

Henman beat another heavy server in Mark Philippoussis in round four but he rates the Ancic serve as even better than the Australian's.

"He is serving bigger than Philippoussis," the crestfallen Englishman said. "His second serve was more accurate, faster, coming down from a greater height.

"I'll be interested to see how he gets on in the semis. He's playing very, very well. I'll be intrigued to see how the other players cope with it."