ATP Newport: Ivo Karlovic is now aging backwards
Ivo Karlovic is at the start of the ATP tournament in Newport with a wildcard. His age? For him it is still just a number.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: Jul 13, 2021, 12:38 pm
New times for the eternalIvo Karlovic . The Croat, who has been on the ATP tour since 2000, has found himself in the lower reaches of the world rankings for some time, as of this week he is only in 210th place. It is the first time in more than ten years that "Dr . Ivo "is no longer in the top 200.
One reason for this: Karlovic has made himself rare in the last few months. He only played four tournaments in 2021, only one in an ATP main draw at Delray Beach earlier this year. Where he won his first round match against Pablo Andujar.
A higher number of strokes was expected, especially on the beloved lawn, but Karlovic only competed in the Wimbledon qualification, where he lost his first match.
Karlovic is happy about the wildcard
This week, however, the old master wants to attack again. The ATP tournament in Newport has shown its heart and given the 2016 champion a wildcard, a rare picture for Karlovic. As serving world champion, he has not mobilized the masses of spectators for many years.
"I've played well here in the past. It's a fine event, I've always liked it here," Karlovic told atp.com before the tournament started. "Hopefully things will go well for me, then let's see what the rest of the year will be like." Karlovic will meet the Spaniard Bernabe Zapata Miralles on Tuesday (from 5 p.m. in the live scores) .
The fact that he has played so little in the past is also due to the corona crisis. "I'm 42 years old and I'm happy to still be able to play. Even though I haven't traveled much in the past year and a half due to the corona pandemic, it's nice to be back again." He wanted to have fun again in Newport. "On the pitches here I have a chance of winning games," said Karlovic. "I'm very happy they gave me a wild card. Hopefully I'll play well and show that I deserve it."
How long does Karlovic want to keep going? Seems open. Anyway, he didn't feel any different than ten years ago, he assured me. Everything is just a question of motivation and the ability to win games. "And when people ask me my age, I count backwards. I'll be 41 the next birthday."