Ivanisevic Is Shoe-In as Winner : Tennis: Croatian star’s sole fails him, but not his tongue, as he advances to semifinals at UCLA.

It was an example of Goran Ivanisevic at his irrepressible best--or possibly worst.

At the Infiniti Open on Friday, the zany Croatian won his quarterfinal match against Marcos Ondruska, 2-6, 6-1, 6-3, but he very possibly lost his apparel sponsor by belittling the products it pays him to wear.

Then, he zigzagged his way through an update on his disdain for the United States, the terrible local food, the paucity of attractive women and his aversion to hard courts. Otherwise, he’s loving L.A.

The usual rules don’t apply where Ivanisevic is concerned. Normally on the tennis tour, players often praise their rackets or shoes. Seldom do they take the opportunity to tell assembled reporters what junk they have to work with.

But after Ivanisevic’s tennis shoes failed him near the end of his victory at the Los Angeles Tennis Center at UCLA, he did exactly that and more, continuing his weeklong barrage of hilarious and outrageous comments.

The other players in the tournament suffer by comparison, simply answering the questions posed to them. That includes the three who advanced to today’s semifinals: second-seeded Michael Stich, who defeated seventh-seeded Alexander Volkov, 6-3, 6-2; Jakob Hlasek, who defeated Patrick Rafter, 6-7 (7-1), 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), and fifth-seeded Thomas Enqvist, who defeated Michael Joyce, 1-6, 6-1, 6-1.

It was left to Ivanisevic to enliven the proceedings.

When he was only two points from winning his match, the sole of one of his shoes came apart. He sought help on the sideline, where his repair job consisted of peeling off the bottom of the offending shoe.

He then played out the match, even managing to serve an ace at match point.

Afterward, he padded into an interview room in his stockinged feet, having thrown the offending shoes into the crowd.

“I have a contract with them [the sponsor] . . . but it’s a bad shoe, bad shoe,” Ivanisevic said, snickering at his impertinence. “I have only one pair, they only sent me one. I went out before and bought another pair [a different brand]. I knew this would happen. You are not supposed to wear another shoe, but I have to play doubles.”

The shoe’s manufacturer is Italian, but Ivanisevic said he thought the shoes were made in Thailand.

That was not all Ivanisevic had to say: As of Friday, he thinks the United States is a “beautiful country,” an opinion he came to by way of his win. Moments later, however, he said the mere thought of coming to this country displeases him.

“It’s like a nightmare,” he said. “Even before I get on the plane to come here. But it depends. After this week, I may have a home here. Florida. Orlando. Disney World.”

He also reversed his assessment of his play against Jim Grabb Thursday night, which he had called a bad match. Now he admits, “I just said that. I had nothing to say. It wasn’t bad.”

Joyce, meanwhile, began his match Friday in much the same fashion as he had Thursday night, when he upset Jim Courier. He produced an impeccable first set, finding all the lines.

“I was playing perfect tennis in the first set,” Joyce said, managing to sound humble. “It’s really encouraging to know I can play like that.”

He was unable to sustain that level of play, however, against No. 16 Enqvist. Joyce, ranked No. 87 and playing in front of his hometown fans, tried gamely but ran out of fuel in the afternoon heat.

Joyce was showing the effects of having played 13 matches in 2 1/2 weeks and a late match Thursday. He did succeed in fending off invitations from family and friends who wanted him to go out and celebrate his win over Courier.

Instead, he went home, but he might have found more peace had he gone out.

“My phone didn’t stop ringing until about 1 or 2,” Joyce said.” It’s hard to wind down after a match like that. I didn’t get to sleep until after 3.”