Ivo Karlović

Although not turning pro until 2000 at the age of 21, Karlović played his first ITF futures event in June 1998 and made two finals in August 1998 and September 1999, losing both. He played his first Challenger event in December 1999.

Karlović at the 2004 US Open

Karlović debuted for the Croatian Davis Cup team in 2000 against Ireland, where he won the dead rubber. Karlović appeared in a starting line-up for the 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 the fifth and decisive rubber. He has posted a 4–2 career record (2–2 in singles) in three ties since 2000.

Karlović caused a major upset at Wimbledon when he beat defending champion Lleyton Hewitt in his first match in a Grand Slam tournament. As of 2015, Karlović remains the only player in Open tennis history, and only the second player after Charlie Pasarell, to defeat the defending Wimbledon men's singles champion in the first round.[19] He finished the 2003 year in the top 100 and as the Croatian No. 3, behind Ivan Ljubičić and Mario Ančić. He also averaged an ATP-best of 17.6 aces per match. He continued his success during the 2004 season, winning at Calabasas, California. He reached the round of sixteen in several tournaments, including Wimbledon.

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. 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."[20]

At the 2005 US Open, Karlović lost to eventual runner-up Andre Agassi in three tiebreakers. 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 semifinal dead rubber.[21]

On 26 February 2006, he won his first ATP Doubles Tournament with South African Chris Haggard, beating James Blake and Mardy Fish in the 2006 Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and the Cellular South Cup, Memphis, USA. On 27 February, he reached a career high of No. 47 in doubles and on 8 May he also reached the top 50 in singles.

Karlović and Roger Federer were the only players who won titles on three different surfaces during the 2007 season.

At age 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. On 29 May 2007 at the French Open, he defeated eighth seed James Blake in the first round. In the next round he lost to Jonas Björkman in five sets.

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 seventh seed Stanislas Wawrinka, Gilles Simon, Juan Martín del Potro, second seed Dmitry Tursunov (a match played on indoor hard courts due to torrential rain), and Arnaud Clément. Despite a first-round loss at Wimbledon, he rose to No. 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 in the final.[22] Earlier, Karlović had yet again met Frenchman Arnaud Clément in his quarterfinal, the pair having met five times that year alone, including in the final of Nottingham, where Karlović secured his second career title. Karlović edged past his rival after saving a match point in the final-set tiebreak, and then went on to defeat German No. 1 Tommy Haas in the semifinals.

At the 2008 Australian Open, Karlović entered the men's doubles tournament with 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 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."[23]

Karlović defeated world No. 1 Roger Federer in the third round of the Cincinnati Masters on 31 July 2008. This was his first victory in seven matches against Federer. It was this loss which caused Federer to lose his No. 1 ranking to Rafael Nadal. Karlović then advanced to the semifinals where he lost to eventual champion Andy Murray. This was his career-best result in a top-level tournament.

At the US Open, Karlović fell to Sam Querrey in straight sets.

At the 2008 Madrid Masters, he stunned World No. 3 Novak Djokovic in two tie-breaker sets serving 20 aces to seal victory in 1 hour and 42 minutes. However, he lost in the quarterfinals to Frenchman Gilles Simon, being dominated in the tiebreaks.

Ivo Karlović and Ivan Dodig in Davis Cup doubles match against Germany

At Wimbledon 2009, he powered through the first two rounds, beating Lukáš Lacko and Steve Darcis. In the next two rounds he needed only one break of serve in the third set to defeat both ninth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and seventh seed Fernando Verdasco, advancing to face Roger Federer in his first quarterfinal at a Grand Slam. The match was a relatively one-sided affair, with Federer winning in straight sets and going on to win the tournament.

In the 2009 Davis Cup semifinals, Karlović was defeated by Radek Štěpánek, despite hitting a record-breaking 78 aces (the record has since been taken by John Isner). The match was one of the longest in the history of the Davis Cup, lasting 5 hours, 59 minutes. There were only three breaks of serve in this match.[24]

Karlović also won his first five-set match in the Davis Cup quarterfinals against the United States, where he came from behind to beat James Blake from two sets down.

Karlović met Štěpánek again at the 2010 Australian Open, in another five-set marathon. This time, the 13-seeded Štěpánek lost. In all five-set matches Karlović has played, this was only his second win. He went on to reach a career-best fourth round there, after beating Julien Benneteau (in four sets), and Ivan Ljubičić (also in four sets). After giving a solid performance, he was ousted by the second seed and defending champion Rafael Nadal in that round.

As the second seed at the 2010 Delray Beach International Tennis Championships, he made a runner-up effort, losing to first-time ATP-finalist Ernests Gulbis.

In the 2010 Davis Cup, where Croatia had a first-round clash with Ecuador, Karlović defeated Nicolás Lapentti in five sets. This was his third five-set match win, following his five-set win over Štěpánek at the Australian Open. His five-set record then stood at 3–12.

Karlović was forced to withdraw from 2010 Wimbledon due to a foot injury.[25]

Karlović at the 2013 US Open

February 2011 saw Karlović temporarily exit from the top 200. In 2012, Karlović beat Dudi Sela in the first round of Wimbledon in straight sets, but was knocked out in the second round by Andy Murray.[26] Karlović controversially accused Wimbledon of being biased, as he was pulled up for approximately 11-foot faults.[27]

In 2013, Karlović suffered from viral meningitis, which was not immediately diagnosed. He was unconscious for some time, and when he woke up, he did not know his name or what year it was.[9] After a lengthy recovery, he was able to play again in Newport in July, where he made it to the quarterfinals, before being defeated by John Isner in one of their typical ace-fests.[9]

In Bogota, also in July, he won his fifth ATP title, beating Alejandro Falla in the final. He did not qualify for the Rogers Cup or Cincinnati Masters.

At the US Open, he made it through qualifying and into the second round by defeating James Blake in the last singles match of his career in five sets. In the second round, he met Stanislas Wawrinka, to whom he lost in straight sets.

In February, Karlović reached the final of the U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships, losing to Kei Nishikori. In May, he reached the final of the Düsseldorf Open, losing to Philipp Kohlschreiber. In July, he reached the final of the Hall of Fame Open, losing an epic match to Lleyton Hewitt. Another solid week of tennis saw him make back-to-back finals, this time at the Claro Open Colombia, losing to Bernard Tomic in a tight three-setter. He avenged that loss the following month at the Rogers Cup in another tight three-setter.

Karlović won his sixth title, defeating Donald Young at the Delray Beach Open. He also won the 2015 Topshelf Open in doubles with Łukasz Kubot. He reached his second Hall of Fame Open final, which he lost to Rajeev Ram in three sets.

Karlović at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships

Karlović suffered a knee injury and missed two months of play.

He reached the final of the Hall of Fame Open for the third time against Gilles Müller, which he won in three tiebreaks. At the age of 37 and 5 months, he became the oldest player to win an ATP title since 1979. He reached an ATP World Tour 500 series tournament at the Washington Open (tennis), which he lost to Gaël Monfils.

He then won the Los Cabos Open, beating Feliciano López in straight sets and returned to the top 20 again at 37 years and 6 months.

Karlović began the Australian Open by defeating Horacio Zeballos in a 5-hour, 15-minute match, the second-longest match at the tournament in the Open Era (behind the Djokovic–Nadal final in 2012). He set an Australian Open record, hitting 75 aces.[28]

Aged 38, Karlović set up the oldest ATP Tour tournament final in 41 years against Gilles Muller, aged 34, at the 2017 Ricoh Open.[29] He lost in straight sets.

At the Australian Open, Karlović progressed to the Round of 32, losing to Andreas Seppi, 7–9 in the fifth set.

At the Ecuador Open in Quito, Karlović made it to the Round of 16, losing to 18 years old Corentin Moutet in a third-set tie-break.

Next, he reached the quarterfinals at New York Open losing to second seed Sam Querrey.

After a string of tight first round losses at Delray Beach Open, Indian Wells Masters and Miami Open (tennis), the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships in Houston saw Karlović reach the semifinals with wins over Japanese Taro Daniel, Denis Kudla and 4th seed Nick Kyrgios. In the semifinals, he lost to eventual runner-up Tennys Sandgren in two close tie-break sets.

At Wimbledon, he reached the second round. At the US Open, he was defeated in the second round of qualifying.

In October, he became the oldest champion of an ATP Challenger tournament, winning the Calgary Challenger at 39 years and seven months.[30]

At the Maharashtra Open Karlović beat teenager Félix Auger-Aliassime in first round. The age gap of 21 years and 6 months between the two players was the largest on the ATP Tour since 2011. Karlović and Auger-Aliassime were the oldest and the youngest players in the Top 200 ATP rankings at the beginning of the 2019 season.[31] He went on to make the final, at 39 years and 10 months becoming the oldest finalist on the ATP Tour since 43-year-old Ken Rosewall won the 1977 Hong Kong championship.[32]

With his victory over Matthew Ebden at the Indian Wells Masters, he became the first player aged over 40 to win an ATP Tour match since Jimmy Connors in 1995 in Halle. In addition, he is the oldest to win a match in ATP Masters 1000 history.[33]

At the 2021 Hall of Fame Open in Newport, Karlovic won against 24-year-old Bernabé Zapata Miralles. This was only his second match win for 2021, the first being at the 2021 Delray Beach Open against Pablo Andújar. At 42 years old, Karlovic was the oldest player to compete in an ATP Tour match since Thomas Muster, 44, in 2011 in Vienna (l. to Dominic Thiem in R1).[34]

In July, Los Cabos Open organisers circulated news of Karlović's retirement at the 2021 US Open.[35] Later, he said he may change his mind and continue playing in 2022 if he got good results.[36]

Karlović entered the US Open qualifying draw for possibly his last tournament. He won all three of his qualifying matches to qualify for the US Open, making him the second-oldest Grand Slam qualifier in the Open Era after Mal Anderson qualified for the 1977 Australian Open.[37] It was his 17th Grand Slam draw participation at the US Open and the 63rd overall Grand Slam main draw appearance for the 42-year-old.[38] He lost in the first round to 5th seed Andrey Rublev in straight sets.

Karlović produced the fastest serve ever during a Davis Cup doubles match against Germany on 5 March 2011

On 18 September 2009, Karlović hit 78 aces (77 aces on 1st serve) in a Davis Cup match against Radek Štěpánek, breaking his previous record of 51 (against Daniele Bracciali in the 2005 Wimbledon Championships) and 55 (against Lleyton Hewitt in the 2009 French Open). Only once in his ATP career has he failed to hit an ace during a match, which was in the 2008 Monte Carlo Masters against Frenchman Gaël Monfils.[42] His record of aces in a single match was broken by both John Isner and Nicolas Mahut in the longest match in tennis history at the first round of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, where Isner hit 113 aces and Mahut hit 103.

In 2007, Karlović became the fourth player since 1991 to serve 1,000 aces in a season. He finished the year with 1,318 aces, second behind Goran Ivanišević, who hit 1,477 in 1996.[43] In 2015, he became the third player since 1991 (after Goran Ivanišević and Andy Roddick) to serve 9,000 career aces.,[44] and the second to notch 10,000 aces.

Karlović's fastest official serve is 156 miles per hour (251 km/h), which he hit during his five-set loss in the 2011 Davis Cup first round third rubber doubles match with Ivan Dodig against Christopher Kas and Philipp Petzschner of Germany. That was ATP's official record at the time.[45][46] His previous record was 153 miles per hour (246 km/h) in a victory over Arnaud Clément in the final of Nottingham in 2007. This is the third-fastest first serve on record, after Andy Roddick's 155 miles per hour (249 km/h).[47][48] He also hit a 144 miles per hour (232 km/h) second serve against Paul Capdeville in the quarterfinals of the 2007 Legg Mason Tennis Classic on 3 August, which is the fastest second serve on record.[47][49][50][51]

Karlovic's record of a 156 mph serve was broken by Samuel Groth at the 2012 ATP Challenger in Busan, but was still the record for ATP events until John Isner broke the record in 2016.[9]

On 19 June 2015 Karlović broke the record for most aces in a three-set ATP Tour match during the quarterfinal of 2015 Gerry Weber Open. He served 45 aces in a 7–5, 6–7^(8–10), 6–3 win over Tomáš Berdych.[52]

Karlović held the record for the most aces since 1991 after surpassing Goran Ivanišević in October 2015. As of September 2021, he has struck 13,728 aces in 694 matches (not including Davis Cup).[53][54] This record was surpassed by John Isner in June 2022, who hit his 13,729th ace in a third round match at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships.[55]

• indicates the outcome of the Davis Cup match followed by the score, date, place of event, the zonal classification and its phase, and the court surface.

Result	Rubber	Match type (partner if any)	Opponent nation	Opponent player(s)	Score
5–0; 14–16 July 2000; Fitzwilliam L.T.C. Dublin, Ireland; Group II Europe/Africa Second round; Carpet surface
Victory	III	Doubles (with Goran Ivanišević)	Ireland	Scott Barron / Owen Casey	6–7(5–7), 6–2, 6–1, 6–1
Victory	IV	Singles (dead rubber)		Conor Niland	4–6, 6–3, 6–4
5–0; 6–8 October 2000; Mladost Trsat Hall, Rijeka, Croatia; Group II Europe/Africa Third round; Carpet surface
Victory	III	Doubles (with Goran Ivanišević)	Ivory Coast	Ilou Lonfo / Claude N'Goran	7–6(8–6), 6–4, 6–7(5–7), 4–6, 6–0
Victory	V	Singles (dead rubber)		Claude N'Goran	6–4, 6–1
2–3; 5–7 April 2002; Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club, Buenos Aires, Argentina; World Group Quarterfinals; Clay surface
Defeat	II	Singles	Argentina	Juan Ignacio Chela	7–5, 4–6, 4–6, 2–6
Defeat	V	Singles		Gastón Gaudio	4–6, 4–6, 2–6
1–4; 6–8 February 2004; Les Arenes, Metz, France; World Group First round; Clay surface
Defeat	II	Doubles (with Mario Ančić)	France	Nicolas Escudé / Michaël Llodra	1–6, 6–7(5–7), 3–6
Defeat	IV	Singles (dead rubber)		Nicolas Escudé	6–7(5–7), 2–6
3–2; 23–25 September 2005; Dvorana SC Gripe, Split, Croatia; World Group Semifinals; Carpet surface
Defeat	V	Singles (dead rubber)	Russia	Dmitry Tursunov	4–6, 4–6
3–2; 11–13 April 2008; Sportska Dvorana, Dubrovnik, Croatia; Group I Europe/Africa Second round; Hard surface
Defeat	I	Singles	Italy	Simone Bolelli	6–7(7–9), 3–6, 4–6
4–1; 19–21 September 2008; Sportski Centar Visnjik, Zadar, Croatia; World Group play-offs; Hard surface
Victory	II	Singles	Brazil	Thiago Alves	7–6(7–5), 7–6(7–3), 7–5
Defeat	III	Doubles (with Lovro Zovko)		Marcelo Melo / André Sá	7–6(7–3), 2–6, 5–7, 7–6(7–5), 3–6
Victory	IV	Singles		Thomaz Bellucci	7–6(7–5), 6–4, 6–7(6–8), 7–6(7–4)
5–0; 6–8 March 2009; Visenamjenska Sportska Dvorana "Zatika", Poreč, Croatia; World Group First round; Hard surface
Victory	V	Singles (dead rubber)	Chile	Hans Podlipnik Castillo	6–3, 7–6(7–4)
3–2; 10–12 July 2009; Visenamjenska Sportska Dvorana "Zatika", Poreč, Croatia; World Group Quarterfinals; Clay surface
Victory	I	Singles	United States	James Blake	6–7(5–7), 4–6, 6–3, 7–6(7–3), 7–5
1–4; 18–20 September 2009; Visenamjenska Sportska Dvorana "Zatika", Poreč, Croatia; World Group Semifinals; Clay surface
Defeat	I	Singles	Czech Republic	Radek Štěpánek	7–6(7–5), 6–7(5–7), 6–7(6–8), 7–6(7–2), 14–16
5–0; 5–7 March 2010; Gradska Sportska Dvorana Varazdin, Varaždin, Croatia; World Group First round; Hard surface
Victory	I	Singles	Ecuador	Nicolás Lapentti	6–2, 5–7, 6–7(2–7), 6–3, 6–4
Victory	III	Doubles (with Marin Čilić)		Giovanni Lapentti / Nicolás Lapentti	7–6(7–3), 6–3, 7–5
2–3; 4–6 March 2011; Dom Sportova, Zagreb, Croatia; World Group First round; Hard surface
Defeat	III	Doubles (with Ivan Dodig)	Germany	Christopher Kas / Philipp Petzschner	3–6, 6–3, 7–5, 3–6, 4–6
Defeat	V	Singles		Philipp Petzschner	4–6, 6–7(3–7), 6–7(5–7)
3–2; 10–12 February 2012; Bourbon Beans Dome, Kobe, Japan; World Group First round; Hard surface
Victory	II	Singles	Japan	Kei Nishikori	6–4, 6–4, 6–3
Victory	III	Doubles (with Ivan Dodig)		Tatsuma Ito / Yūichi Sugita	6–4, 6–4, 3–6, 6–3
Victory	V	Singles		Go Soeda	7–6(7–4), 6–1, 6–4
1–4; 6–8 April 2012; Parque Roca, Buenos Aires, Argentina; World Group Quarterfinals; Clay surface
Defeat	II	Singles	Argentina	Juan Martín del Potro	2–6, 6–7(7–9), 1–6
Defeat	III	Doubles (with Marin Čilić)		David Nalbandian / Eduardo Schwank	6–3, 6–7(6–8), 3–6, 7–6(8–6), 6–8
2–3; 25–27 November 2016; Arena Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia; World Group Final; Hard surface
Defeat	II	Singles	Argentina	Juan Martín del Potro	4–6, 7–6(8–6), 3–6, 5–7
Defeat	V	Singles		Federico Delbonis	3–6, 4–6, 2–6