ATP Newport: Ivo Karlovic on the trail of Thomas Muster and Jimmy Connors
Ivo Karlovic won his first round match at the ATP tournament in Newport - now it's against the top seeded Alexander Bublik.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: Jul 14, 2021, 08:09 am
Ivo Karlovic is in round 2 of the ATP tournament in Newport. Karlovic won 6: 7 (5), 6: 1 and 6: 4 against the Spaniard Bernabe Zapata Miralles.
Karlovic missed a 4-2 lead in the tiebreak of the first set and had to catch up with 0:40 at the beginning of the second round - with success. Then he managed the first break of the game and the quick 5-0. In the third round everything stayed in line until the 5: 4, then "Dr. Ivo" scored four points in a row when his opponent served.
"It was hard to lose the tie-break. I was a bit more aggressive afterwards, which paid off in the end," said Karlovic, who blocked all six breakballs against himself and knocked 24 aces on the opposite lawn.
The 42-year-old won in Newport in 2016 and is starting this year with a wildcard. In the world rankings, Karlovic, formerly the 14th in the world, is only listed at number 210. Also because after resuming the tour after the Corona shutdown, he only played eight tournaments, four of them this year. In January he celebrated his only victory on the ATP tour, in Delray Beach. "It's always great to be here in Newport, especially because there is no more bubble this week, everything is open. It's really nice," said Karlovic.
In addition to Karlovic, the other wildcard boys Kevin Anderson and Jack Sock also made it to the second round.
Karlovic already with the serve from below
Karlovic was then asked how often he actually trains, especially the serve. "Almost every day," was the answer. "That's what I do every day. In addition to work in the gym, at my age it's important." Karlovic turned 42 in February of this year, he was the oldest participant in an ATP match in Newport since Thomas Muster in Vienna in 2011 - he was 44 years old at the time.
In Newport, Karlovic will face the top seeded Alexander Bublik , currently number 37 in the ranking, on Wednesday. Should Karlovic win, he would be the oldest quarter-finalist at an ATP tournament since Jimmy Connors 1995 in Halle.
Opponent Bublik is to a certain extent also a service artist, especially one who sometimes unpacks the service from below. Karlovic asked whether he would ever do that. He grinned: "There's even a video of it on Youtube!"
By the way, in 2006 it was a success against Tommy Haas in Stockholm. It is rather questionable whether the Doc will also use the "underarm serve" against Bublik.