Precision tennis. The second man to 10,000 aces in the world. And the second Croat.
In the second round of the tennis tournament in Montreal, Ivo Karlović has defeated the tenth player in the world Miloš Raonić 7:6 (1), 7:6 (1), and simultaneously broke the magic barrier of 10,000 aces in his career. In the game, he had 22 aces and has reached a total figure of 10,004, 179 less than the current recorder holder Goran Ivanišević, reports the New York Times on August 13, 2015.
“Of course, that is my goal. I hope to reach it this year. If not, I will do it the next year”, said Karlović. “Everything went in my favor in this match. I was concentrated and aggressive.” This was his third win against players from the top 10, after Đoković and Berdych.
With a first serve that was once recorded at 251 kilometres per hour, the 36-year old Karlović has the most devastating serve in tennis. “That’s a lot of aces”, Karlović said. “It is something I am proud of. I am proud of my serve, and I knew this was coming. I am glad I did it. Now I am looking to get the record.”
“It’s not fun to be waiting for that”, said Nenad Zimonjić from Serbia, who stopped by Karlović’s practice session to offer his congratulations. “You’ve got to be ready, and even then, sometimes they just go right by you.”
Although Karlović is reaching an age when most players have retired, he is actually improving. Karlović, who is ranked 23rd, is almost certain to reach the top 20 for the first time since October 20, 2009. He led the tour in aces from 2007 through 2009 and again in 2014. He has surpassed 1,000 aces three times, including each of the last two seasons. In Halle, Germany, on grass in June, he set a two-set match record with 45 aces against Tomas Berdych.
Karlović is also in the top 10 in all six major serving categories — aces, first-serve percentage, second-serve percentage, first-serve points won, second-serve points won and break points saved — and leads in four of those. But the one that stands out is most aces. On Tuesday, when Raonić was forced to duck as two balls were labeled for his face, Karlović passed into history.
But there was no ceremony at the moment when he reached 10,000, and Karlović did not even get the ball that set the mark — it was gobbled up and put back into circulation. “It would have been nice to have it”, Karlović said. “I would have kept that ball, for sure. Maybe we can do it if I break Goran’s record.”
