1996 IN REVIEW

Finished with second-best year-end ranking, after first appearing on the computer in 1982...The oldest player to finish the year inside the Top 200...Did almost all of his damage in the first half of the year on the Challenger level, winning in Kosice (d. Hrbaty) in June, one week after reaching the Zagreb final (l. to Sargsian)...Also reached Challenger SF in Szczecin and Ulm, helping him finish the year 22-17 in Challenger play...On the ATP Tour, he qualified in Prague (2nd RD), Stuttgart-outdoor (2nd RD) and Marbella, where he defeated Gumy and C. Costa (l. to Karbacher) to reach the QF...Also reached QF in Umag in August, his first ATP Tour QF since Bucharest in 1994.