Karlovic has more than a big serve

Improved all-court game puts big Croat on brink of Top 20

FROM THE ABN AMRO WTT IN ROTTERDAM – With his 6’, 10” height, Ivo Karlovic is the tallest player in the Top 100, but the big-serving Croat has never been considered as a potential top player. Despite the fact that Karlovic will turn 29 next week, he is rising fast in the rankings.

Karlovic routed German qualifier Mischa Zverev 6-3, 6-1 in the quarterfinals on Friday, and needs one more win on Saturday to secure a Top-20 spot.

He will face Frenchman Michael Llodra, a 7-6(5), 7-6(5) victor over Robin Haase, in the semis.

“It is unbelievable. It was always my hope [to become a Top-20 player], but especially in 2006 when I was injured and I missed almost six months it was not really close, but now I’m happy that I’m almost there,” said the current No. 24.

Karlovic never was a great player from the backcourt, and he owed his Top 100-ranking almost completely on his monster serve. Due to his extreme height, Karlovic can not only hit his delivery with massive pace, but he’s also able to create sharp angles, earning him an average of over 20 aces per match.

But in Rotterdam, it’s not only his serve that is impressing the Dutch fans. In the matches he’s played this week against Olivier Rochus, Tomas Berdych and Zverev, Karlovic has been the dominant player in the rallies in all of them. His volleys are excellent, and so is his forehand, with which he’s been hitting a ton of winners. He’s a bit shaky when hitting his one-handed backhand, but he often chooses for the slice, which really bites. Karlovic likes to come in after those balls, and with his imposing posture, he’s nearly impossible to pass at the net.

LATE BREAKTHROUGH

If he were ten years younger and playing like this, Karlovic would have been a lock to become a consistent Top-10 player, if not highter. Why did it take so long for the Croat to evolve his game and become a threat to the world’s best?

“When I was younger I didn’t really have any support,” he said. “I was travelling alone, no coach, no money, so I was struggling and that is why I could not go up as quickly as everybody else. Being in Croatia is not like in other European countries where the associations are going to help a lot for the players with wild cards and everything.”

Karlovic didn’t start travelling with a coach until he was 24, back in 2003. He made his big break that year when he defeated defending champion Lleyton Hewitt at Wimbledon in the first round. “It was a big turning point in my career, because I realise that I can [play with the best]. And after my confidence was really high and I continue to play well and reach Top 100 that year.”

Karlovic was the only player beside Roger Federer to win titles on three different surfaces last season. He triumphed at the indoor event of Stockholm and on the grass of Nottingham, but his most surprising title came at the clay courts of Houston, where he beat then No. 10 Tommy Haas en route to the championship.

“I was especially surprised [that I won] on the clay court, because usually it’s not my best surface,” Karlovic said. “I was running well, I was playing well from the baseline and also tactically I was playing really well.”

Karlovic is the highest-ranked player of the semifinalists in Rotterdam, but he isn’t considering himself to be the favorite to win the event. “No, no, I don’t put any pressure on myself like that. All the players left in the tournament are ranked lower than me, so I think that I have a good chance now. But I’m just going to enjoy every match and hopefully I’m going to play as well as today.”

If he can maintain his current form, Karlovic can move up a lot higher in the rankings over the next weeks. He didn’t play in Indian Wells last year, whereas he lost in the first round in Miami.

Gilles Simon goes up against Robin Soderling in the other semifinal. Simon bested Russian qualifier Teimuraz Gabashvili 6-3, 6-2, while Soderling defeated Andreas Seppi by the same score. Seppi had beaten both Lleyton Hewitt and Rafael Nadal en route to the quarters.