Ivo Karlović

Karlović has won four ATP singles titles: three in 2007 and one in 2008. His current ATP singles ranking is 14th, which is also his career high.

His primary strategy is serve and volley, and he is considered one of the best servers on tour. His height enables him to consistently serve with high speed and unique trajectory.

He has defeated several highly ranked opponents including Roger Federer (who was ranked No. 1 at the time), Lleyton Hewitt, Andy Roddick, Fernando González, and James Blake.

Playing career

He 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 to be a surprising force on the circuit during the 2004 season in which he won at Calabasas, California, and has made it to the round of sixteen in many tournaments, including Wimbledon, where he lost in straight sets to the eventual champion Roger Federer.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. Karlović then advanced to the semi-finals where he lost to Andy Murray 6-4, 6-4. This was his career-best result in a top-level tournament.

Davis Cup Absence

Karlović has been absent from recent Croatian Davis Cup campaigns due an 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 Ivan Ljubičić, 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.

Serving Records

On June 21, 2005 Karlović hit 51 aces, tying the record for most aces in a match. Only once in his ATP career has he failed to hit an ace during a match.

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.

Karlović's fastest official serve is , which he hit during his victory over Arnaud Clément in the final of Nottingham in 2007. This is the second-fastest serve on record. He also hit a second serve on August 3, 2007, which is the the fastest second serve on record.

Personal life

• During Karlović's childhood, his mother Gordana worked in agriculture, while his father Vlado was a meteorologist.
• He married his wife Alsi on March 29, 2005.
• One of his favorite activities is playing basketball.
• Karlović wears size 16 shoes.

Titles (5)

Singles titles (4)

Runners-up (2)

Doubles (1)

Runners-up (1)

Grand Slam performance timeline

• A = did not participate in the tournament.
• LQ = lost in qualifying draw
• SR = the ratio of the number of singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.

References