Ivo Karlović

Ivo Karlović
Ivo Karlović in 2009
Country  Croatia
Residence Zagreb, Croatia
Date of birth 28 February 1979 (1979-02-28) (age 31)
Place of birth Zagreb, Socialist Republic of Croatia, Yugoslavia
Height 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in)
Weight 105 kg (230 lb)
Turned pro 2000
Plays Right-handed; one-handed backhand
Career prize money US$3,226,875
Singles
Career record 159–142
Career titles 4
Highest ranking No. 14 (August 18, 2008)
Current ranking No. 51 (July 19, 2010)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open 4R (2010)
French Open 2R (2006, 2007)
Wimbledon QF (2009)
US Open 3R (2003, 2008)
Doubles
Career record 55–66
Career titles 1
Highest ranking No. 14 (August 18, 2008)
Last updated on: September 20, 2009.

Ivo Karlović (Croatian pronunciation: [iʋɔ karlɔʋitɕ]; born 28 February 1979 in Zagreb, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia) is a Croatian tennis player. He has won four ATP singles titles: three in 2007 and one in 2008. Karlović is the tallest player ever on the ATP Tour at 208 cm (6 ft 10 in).[1][2] He is a serve-and-volleyer, and he is considered one of the best servers on tour. His height enables him to serve with high speed and unique trajectory.[3][4][5]

Contents

Tennis career

Early career

Karlović debuted for the Croatian Davis Cup team in 2000 against Ireland, when he won the dead rubber. Karlović appeared in a starting line-up for first time in 2002 against Argentina in Buenos Aires, but he lost to Juan Ignacio Chela in the second rubber and to Gastón Gaudio in fifth and decisive rubber. He has posted a 4–2 career record (2–2 in singles) in three ties since 2000.

Karlović caused a stunning upset at 2003 Wimbledon Championships when he beat defending champion Lleyton Hewitt in his first-ever match in a Grand Slam tournament. He finished the 2003 year in the Top 100 and as the No. 3 Croatian, behind Ivan Ljubičić and Mario Ančić. He also averaged an ATP-best of 17.6 aces per match.

He continued his success during the 2004 season, winning at Calabasas, California. He reached the round of sixteen in several tournaments, including Wimbledon.

2005

In 2005, Karlović reached his first ATP final at the Queen's Club Championships, defeating Lleyton Hewitt and Thomas Johansson along the way. In the final he lost to Andy Roddick 7–6, 7–6. There were no breaks of serve in the match. Afterwards, Roddick said Karlović's serve is "probably the biggest weapon in tennis... you don't really get a feel for it unless you are on the other side. It was not fun at times."[6]

At the 2005 U.S. Open, Karlović lost to eventual finalist Andre Agassi 7–6(4), 7–6(5), 7–6(4).

On 19 October 2005, he finally defeated Roddick in the Madrid Masters event.

In November 2005, he was a member of the Croatian team that won the Davis Cup. He did not play in the finals but played in a few dead rubbers in previous rounds.

2006

On 26 February 2006, he won his first ATP Doubles Tournament with South African Chris Haggard, beating James Blake and Mardy Fish in the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and the Cellular South Cup, Memphis, USA. On 10 April he reached a career high of #46 in doubles.

2007

Karlović and Roger Federer were the only players who won titles on three different surfaces during the 2007 season.

At age of 28 he won his first ATP Singles Title at the 2007 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships in Houston, Texas, defeating Mariano Zabaleta in the final 6–4, 6–1.

On 29 May 2007 at the French Open he defeated 8th seeded James Blake in the first round 4–6, 6–4, 7–5, 7–5. In the next round he lost to Jonas Björkman, 6–3, 6–3, 4–6, 6–7(2), 3–6.

On 23 June 2007, he won his second title of the year and his career at Nottingham, the last grass tune-up before Wimbledon, defeating #7 seed Stanislas Wawrinka, Gilles Simon, Juan Martín del Potro, #2 seed Dmitry Tursunov (a match played on indoor hard courts due to torrential rain), and Arnaud Clément. As a result, he surpassed his career high from May of last year and broke into the top 45 for the first time. Despite a first round loss at Wimbledon, he rose to #40, making his top 40 debut.

On 14 October 2007 he won his third title of the year by taking the Stockholm Open, defeating former Australian Open Champion Thomas Johansson in three sets, 6–3, 3–6, 6–1 in the final. Earlier Karlović had yet again met Frenchman Arnaud Clément in his quarter final, the pair having met 5 times this year alone including in the final of Nottingham earlier in the year where Karlović secured his second career title. Karlović edged past his rival after saving match point in the final set tiebreak and then went on to defeat German number 1 Tommy Haas in the semi-final.

2008

At the 2008 Australian Open, Karlović entered the men's doubles tournament with 6 ft 9 in John Isner, making them the tallest doubles pair in history. Despite losing in the first round, Karlović said "It was a lot of fun. We will win together next time."[7]

Karlović defeated world number one Roger Federer 7-6(6), 4-6, 7-6(5) in the third round of the Cincinnati Masters on 31 July 2008. This was his first victory in seven matches against Federer. It was this loss which made Federer lose his No. 1 ranking to Rafael Nadal. Karlović then advanced to the semi-finals where he lost to eventual champion Andy Murray 6-4, 6-4. This was his career-best result in a top-level tournament.

At the US Open, Karlovic fell to Sam Querrey in straight sets.

At the 2008 Madrid Masters, he stunned World No. 3 Novak Djokovic in two tie-breaker sets, 7-6(4), 7-6(5) serving 20 aces to seal victory in 1 hour and 42 minutes. However he lost in the quarterfinals to Frenchman Gilles Simon 7-6(1), 4-6, 7-6(2) being dominated in both tie breaks. He was also lobbed over the head three times.

2009

At Wimbledon 2009 he powered through the first two rounds. In the next two rounds he needed only one break of serve in the third set to defeat both #9 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 7-5, 7-6(5) and #7 seed Fernando Verdasco 7-6(5), 6-7(4), 6-3, 7-6(9) advancing to face Roger Federer in his first ever quarter-final at a Grand Slam. The match was a relatively one-sided affair, with Federer winning 6-3, 7-5, 7-6(3) and going on to win the tournament.

In the 2009 Davis Cup semi-finals, Karlović was defeated by Radek Štěpánek 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 7-6(6), 6-7(2), 16-14 despite hitting a record-breaking 78 aces (the record has since been taken by American John Isner). The match was one of the longest in the history of the Davis Cup, lasting 5 h 59 min. There were only three breaks of serve in this match.[8]

2010

Karlović met Štěpánek again at the 2010 Australian Open, in another five set marathon of a match. This time, the 13-seeded Štěpánek fell, as Ivo pulled off a 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 victory. In all five set matches Karlovic has played, this is only his second win. He went on to reach a career best fourth round appearance there, after beating Štěpánek, Julien Benneteau (in four sets) and Ivan Ljubičić (also in four sets). After giving a solid performance, he was ousted by the second seed and defending champion Rafael Nadal 4-6, 6-4, 4-6, 4-6 in that round.

As the no.2 seed at the 2010 Delray Beach International Tennis Championships, he made a runner-up effort, losing to first-time ATP-finalist Ernests Gulbis 2-6, 3-6.

At the 2010 Davis Cup where Croatia had a first round clash with Ecuador, Karlovic defeated Nicolás Lapentti in five sets 6-2, 5-7, 6-7(2), 6-3, 6-4. This was his third five set match win, following his five-set win over Štěpánek at the Australian Open. His five-set record now stands at 3-12.

Karlović was also forced to withdraw from Wimbledon due to a foot injury [9]. He will lose a lot of ranking points due to his quarter-final effort last year.

Davis Cup absence

Karlović has been absent from recent Croatian Davis Cup campaigns due to a dispute between himself and Croatian tennis chiefs. The reason for the dispute is unequal distribution of the money won by the tennis players. Also, Karlović had never received financial help as a young tennis player from the Croatian Tennis Federation, with all the money going to other players, because of the former president of the Croatian tennis federation, Suad Rizvanbegović.

It is worth noting that during Croatia's Davis Cup tie with Great Britain in September 2007, Goran Ivanišević, a formerly staunch supporter of the squad, was also absent, leading to rumours of a growth in the rift.

Karlović further strained his relations with the Croatian Tennis Association and the Croatian Olympic Committee by his last-minute withdrawal from the Olympic tournament in Beijing, communicated via an SMS message.[10][11]

Serving records

On September 18, 2009, Karlović hit 78 aces (77 aces on 1st serve) in a Davis Cup match against Radek Štěpánek, breaking his previous record of 51 (against Daniele Bracciali in the 2005 Wimbledon Championships and 55 (against Lleyton Hewitt in 2009 French Open). Only once in his ATP career has he failed to hit an ace during a match, which was in the 2008 Monte Carlo Masters against Frenchman Gaël Monfils.[12] His record of aces in a single match was broken by both John Isner and Nicolas Mahut in the longest match in tennis history at the first round of 2010 Wimbledon Championships, where Isner hit 112 aces and Mahut hit 103.

In 2007 Karlović became the fourth player to serve 1,000 aces in a season. He finished the year with 1,318 aces, second all-time behind Goran Ivanišević, who hit 1,477 in 1996.[13]

Karlović's fastest official serve is 153 miles per hour (246 km/h), which he hit during his victory over Arnaud Clément in the final of Nottingham in 2007. This is the second-fastest first serve on record, after Andy Roddick (155 miles per hour (249 km/h)).[2][14] He also hit a 144 miles per hour (232 km/h) second serve against Paul Capdeville on 3 August 2007, which is the fastest second serve on record.[2][15][16][17]

Playing Style & Equipment

Due to his huge serve, Karlovic normally employs a serve-and-volley style of play. His groundstrokes are considered average and is also considered slow.

He is sponsored by Babolat for his shoes and racquets and by Sergio Tacchini for his clothes.

Personal life

Titles (5)

Singles titles (4)

Legend (Singles)
Grand Slam (0)
Tennis Masters Cup (0)
ATP Masters Series (0)
ATP Tour (4)
No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score
1. 9 April 2007 Houston, United States Clay Argentina Mariano Zabaleta 6–4, 6–1
2. 18 June 2007 Nottingham, United Kingdom Grass France Arnaud Clément 5–7, 6–4, 7–5
3. 14 October 2007 Stockholm, Sweden Hard (i) Sweden Thomas Johansson 6–3, 3–6, 6–1
4. 21 June 2008 Nottingham, United Kingdom Grass Spain Fernando Verdasco 7–5, 6–7(4), 7–6(8)
Runners-up (3)
No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score
1. 23 June 2005 London, United Kingdom Grass United States Andy Roddick 7–6(7), 7–6(4)
2. 18 February 2007 San Jose, United States Hard United Kingdom Andy Murray 6–7(3), 6–4, 7–6(2)
3. 28 February 2010 Delray Beach, United States Hard Latvia Ernests Gulbis 6–2, 6–3

Doubles (1)

No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents in the final Score
1. 20 February 2006 Memphis, United States Hard South Africa Chris Haggard United States James Blake &
United States Mardy Fish		 0–6, 7–5, [10-5]
Runners-up (1)
No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents in the final Score
1. 23 July 2007 Indianapolis, United States Hard Russia Teimuraz Gabashvili Argentina Juan Martín del Potro &
United States Travis Parrott		 6–3, 2–6, [6-10]
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Career SR Career win-loss
Australian Open A LQ A A 2R 1R 1R 1R 3R 2R 4R 0 / 7 7-7
French Open A A LQ LQ 1R 1R 2R 2R 1R 1R A 0 / 6 2-6
Wimbledon LQ LQ LQ 3R 4R 1R 1R 1R 1R QF A 0 / 7 9-7
U.S. Open LQ LQ LQ 3R 1R 2R 1R 1R 3R 1R 0 / 7 5-7
Grand Slam Win-Loss 0-0 0-0 0-0 4-2 4-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 4-4 5-4 3-1 0 / 26 23-27
Tournament Titles 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 0
Year End Ranking 286 193 201 73 61 70 98 22 25 37

References

  1. ↑ Tallest player ever
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Karlovic Stats
  3. ↑ Federer says Ivo has best serve in the game
  4. ↑ Roddick handles Karlovic, serve
  5. ↑ Tom Perrotta - Ivo has the best serve
  6. ↑ Roddick says Ivo's serve is biggest weapon in tennis
  7. ↑ "Aussie Open day three quotes". BBC News. 16 January 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/7190961.stm. Retrieved 5 May 2010. 
  8. ↑ BBC World Sport Today September 19, 2009.
  9. ↑ http://thetennistimes.com/ivo-karlovic-withdraws-from-wimbledon-with-foot-injury/
  10. ↑ "Misterij Karlović: Čovjek koji je Olimpijske igre otkazao SMS-om" (in Croatian). Sportske novosti. 8 August 2008. http://www.sportskenovosti.hr/index.php?cmd=show_clanak&clanak_id=3167. Retrieved 2008-08-09. 
  11. ↑ "Mateša: Karlović je iskazao potpuno odsustvo odgovornosti" (in Croatian). Vjesnik. 8 August 2008. http://www.vjesnik.com/html/2008/08/08/Clanak.asp?r=spo&c=5. Retrieved 2008-08-11. 
  12. ↑ Monte Carlo Masters. "Ferrer, Davydenko Advance in Straight Sets". Monte Carlo Masters. http://montecarlo.masters-series.com/1/en/news/newsarticle_1033.asp. Retrieved 2008-04-17. 
  13. ↑ Karlovic hits 1,000th ace
  14. ↑ 153mph serve
  15. ↑ [1]. Retrieved 2010-06-23.
  16. ↑ [2]. Retrieved 2010-06-23.
  17. ↑ [3]. Retrieved 2010-06-23.
  18. ↑ ATPtennis.com - Players - Profiles - Career Highlights & Biography

External links