Goran Ivanisevic, Conchita Martinez among four candidates for Tennis Hall of Fame’s Class of 2020

Former Wimbledon champions Goran Ivanisevic and Conchita Martinez are among the four candidates to be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame next year. The other two candidates are doubles specialist Jonas Bjorkman and Roland Garros winner Sergi Bruguera. [caption id=“attachment_6908571” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Goran Ivanisevic. Reuters[/caption] Sweden’s Bjorkman is a former World No 1 who won nine majors and achieved a doubles career grand slam. He also won the year-ending ATP World Tour Championships twice for a combined 54 doubles titles. Besides a fruitful doubles career, Bjorkman reached a career high of world No 4 and was a semifinalist at US Open and Wimbledon. Bruguera accomplished a massive feat when he won back-to-back titles at Roland Garros in 1993 and 1994. The Spaniard reached a career high ranking of world No 3 and won 14 titles. He was a silver medalist at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Croatia’s Ivanisevic helped by his serve and volley style worked best on the grass of Wimbledon. He finished as a quarterfinalist once, semifinalist twice, and finalist three times with one title in 2001 where he beat Pat Rafter in a classic final. Besides the magical run then, Ivanisevic also won two Olympic medals - singles and doubles bronze - in 1992. Another Spaniard in the fray is Martinez who won 33 singles titles and 13 doubles titles during her 15-year career. She won the Wimbledon title in 1994 by beating nine-time champion Martina Navratilova in the final. She was also a finalist at the Australian Open and French Open. Martinez reached a career high of world No 2 and while representing Spain won three Olympic medals - all in doubles. With the ballot now set to four players, the next step involves selection by ITHF Player Voting Group, which is comprised of tennis media, historians, and Hall of Famers. Fans also have a say in the next Hall of Famer with a poll running till 29 September. The top three vote getters by the fans will have bonus percentage points added to their result from the ITHF Player Voting Group. As per the rules, to be elected into the Hall of Fame, a candidate must receive 75% or more votes from the Player Voting Group result or a combined total of 75% or more from the Player Voting Group result and any bonus percentage points they earn through the Fan Vote. The fan vote results will be announced in late September. The overall results and the complete Induction Class of 2020 will be announced in January. The 2020 Induction Ceremony will be hosted on 18 July, 2020 in Newport, Richmond.