By Marko Kovac BBC, Zagreb

There were no expectations from Croat Ivo Karlovic, surprise winner over Australia's Lleyton Hewitt in Monday's first round at Wimbledon.

Ranked 203rd in the world, he was anonymous as anonymous could be.

Karlovic nearly switched to basketball as a teenager

It was his first-ever Grand Slam tournament match and many thought Karlovic might as well have started packing his bags even before walking onto court.

At 24, Karlovic still had no significant results under his belt, and beating the mighty defending champion Hewitt seemed an impossible task.

Now he finds himself being dubbed by the media back home as the "new Croatian sensation", who has wrought a miracle.

Karlovic went into the match so cash-strapped that he could only manage low-grade accommodation in London, reports say.

He had great co-ordination and was a talented basketball player... it crossed my mind that he might be too tall for tennis Hrvoje Franic Karlovic coach from teenage years

Lack of money in the expensive game of tennis is indeed something he's used to.

As a teenager, Ivo Karlovic outgrew everyone in his family.

His father considered giving up his son's tennis coaching and enrolling him in a basketball school.

Although Croatian analysts who followed Karlovic's career saw a promising player, he struggled with constant financial problems.

Tennis in the mid-1990s was attracting no sponsors in this ex-Yugoslav country.

In the then war-torn Croatian economy, sponsors held back from tennis and committed themselves instead to basketball and football.

Croatian papers celebrated Karlovic's "miracle" win

Expensive clay court play seemed a wrong choice for the young Karlovic.

Faced with no significant results and a financial drought, taking up basketball seemed the only sane thing for the six-foot 10-inch Karlovic.

"He had great co-ordination and was a talented basketball player," says his coach from his teenage days, Hrvoje Franic.

"Ivo played with me and it crossed my mind that he might be too tall for tennis."

But love for the sport pushed the young Karlovic further.

After his win against Hewitt, many recalled his fellow Croat Goran Ivanisevic's troubled tennis childhood, when family investment was the only thing that kept the future Wimbledon champion going.

It was Ivanisevic who first congratulated Karlovic on his win over Hewitt.

This was the moment of Karlovic's career - his biggest idol calling to give him his best regards.

Talk of the town

Back in his hometown of Zagreb, pictures of Karlovic's disbelief dominate the front pages of local newspapers.

His Wimbledon triumph is the main topic of cafe-talk. Television is replaying his best moves.

Many also recall Ivanisevic's Wimbledon finals win two years ago.

Analysts, however, believe Karlovic still has much to do to follow his idol that far.

Karlovic has so far spent most of his career playing low-level Futures and Challengers tournaments.

Regardless of the second round outcome, Ivo Karlovic has already exceeded everyone's expectations

He has played only four ATP tournaments in his life - reaching the second round of this year's Queens Championship had been his best result.

This is why his Wimbledon win over Hewitt came as a huge surprise even to his fellow Croats.

He is now trying to calm his fans' excitement, saying he mustn't think about Hewitt and should instead concentrate on winning in his second round match.