Goran Ivanisevic thanked the miserable British weather and 1991 Wimbledon champion Michael Stich for his stunning comeback victory over Italy's Filippo Volandri at the grasscourt Grand Slam on Thursday.

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"If the rain didn't come today, I probably would have lost," the 2001 winner, who is playing his final tournament before retirement, said after his 4-6, 7-6, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory.

"I went into the locker room and Michael Stich came to me and said 'Listen, I'm commentating on the match. Come on man, do something'.

"And I said 'Okay man, I didn't know you were commentating on my match, now I'm going to do something'.

"After I came back, that was a different me on court. Sun was shining, I started to play much better and that's why I won."

The 32-year-old Croatian had just gone down two sets to one when heavy showers forced the players off court for 20 minutes.

With Volandri in the driving seat before the disruption, Ivanisevic was heard constantly muttering to himself in frustration.

"I was saying a lot of bad things to myself, (like) how bad I am, how stupid I am, what am I doing you know," he said.

"I just wanted to get it out of my system. There was a little bit darkness in my brain. And then the rain arrived at the right time.

"Then I told myself, 'Man you don't lose the match today. It's not the match you're going to lose, so you better do something if you want to win'."

The Croatian is also hoping his mental strength will help him to overcome any stiffness he may feel on his problematic shoulder when he faces 2002 champion Lleyton Hewitt in the third round.

"This week I don't want to have any pain," he said with a lopsided grin. "In my mind, even when I have pain, I say to myself 'You don't have any pain, no pain today' and sometimes that can work."