He overtakes Goran Ivanišević on the aces throne
Ivo Karlovic became the undisputed ace king at the China Open tennis tournament on Thursday, October 8tzh, 2015 surpassing another Croat on the throne, legendary Goran Ivanišević.
2.08 m tall Karlović served 26 aces in his loss against Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas in Beijing for an unbelievable career total of 10,247 aces, so instead of dwelling on his loss, he was pretty ecstatic to learn he made ATP history: “It’s an amazing feeling” Karlovic said. “For the past year I knew it was quite possible and I was hoping it would happen this year and I’m glad it happened here. My serve is my biggest weapon and I always take pride in it. To be able to do this is a great feeling and a great accomplishment, but I am not done yet. There are many years in front of me and hopefully that number will keep going up.”
Despite the loss, 36-year-old Karlović remained on track for his best season to date. He won his sixth title at Delray Beach to become the oldest champion since Jimmy Connors, 37, won Tel Aviv in 1989 and posted his best Grand Slam result of the season to reach the Wimbledon fourth round before losing to Andy Murray, and Karlović is one of only four players to defeat World No. 1 Novak Đoković this season.
As for his aces record, it’s not the only one under his belt. In his quarter-final win over Tomas Berdych in Halle this year, he served 45 aces, the most in a best-of-three-set match on record.
Ivo Karlovic stands alone as the undisputed ace king after surpassing his countryman Goran Ivanisevic’s record at the China Open on Thursday. The 6ft 11in Croatian thumped down 26 aces for a career total of 10,247 in his 7-6(5), 7-6(6) loss to Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas in Beijing to jump 10 clear of Ivanisevic’s previous benchmark of 10,237.
“It’s a great feeling,” Karlovic said. “For the past year I knew it was possible and I was hoping that it would be this year. It’s great that it happened here. My serve is my biggest weapon and I always take pride in it. To be able to do this is a great feeling and a great accomplishment.
“I’m not done yet. There are many years in front of me and hopefully that number will go up and up.”
Still with 26 aces, it was not enough to get past the World No. 37; Cuevas progressing to the quarter-finals in one hour and 33 minutes. Cuevas claimed the opening set on his fourth set point 7/5 and soon after Karlovic passed Ivanisevic’s record. The Croat saved two break points at 3-4 down in the second set, which would have given Cuevas the chance to serve it out.
Cuevas brought up match point in the tie-break with a wrong-footing forehand winner in behind Karlovic. He missed long on the return but made no mistake of it on his second chance, passing Karlovic with a forehand winner crosscourt.
Despite the loss, 36-year-old Karlovic remained on track for his best season to date. The No. 2 Croat captured his sixth title at Delray Beach to become the oldest champion since Jimmy Connors, 37, won Tel Aviv in 1989 and posted his best Grand Slam result of the season to reach the Wimbledon fourth round before losing to Andy Murray. He is one of only four players to defeat World No. 1 Novak Djokovic this season.
This, however, is not Karlovic’s only ace record for 2015. In his quarter-final win over Tomas Berdych in Halle, he clocked 45 aces, the most in a best-of-three-set match on record.
