Karlovic Serves an Upset Over Djokovic in Doha

January 8, 2015 | By Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
Ivo_Karlovic_Crop
Photo credit: Adam Wolfthal

If you are a tennis purist, someone who enjoys serve and volleys and long rallys, then Thursday’s Qatar Open quarterfinal match between world number one Novak Djokovic and seventh-seeded Ivo Karlovic was not for you.

The big-serving Croat Karlovic used his dominant serve to take away Djokovic’s excellent return and baseline game, resulting in a 6-7(2), 7-6(6), 6-4 upset win over the top-ranked Serb.

“It was unbelievable,” said Karlovic. “When I arrived here, I didn’t expect that one. He wasn’t able to show his full range because it was windy. I just focused on my game and in the end I was a little luckier.”

It was the first time the two played in seven years and both players used dominating serves all match long. There was only one break point opportunity for either player in the opening frame and it was turned away by Karlovic. With each player holding throughout, the first set went into a tiebreaker.

Two mini-breaks in the breaker allowed Djokovic to pull away and capture the first set.

The second set was similar to the first as both players exchanged aces and service points, sending a set into yet another tiebreak. This time, Karlovic would get the better of Djokovic, edging the breaker 8-6 to force the match into a deciding third.

With two players serving almost flawlessly, this match would come down to whoever would be able to notch the first break point. That point came in the seventh game of the frame as Karlovic finally broke Djokovic, giving him a 4-3 advantage. He would hold serve to finish and pull the upset in two hours and 16 minutes.

Karlovic’s serve was so good that he did not even give Djokovic a break point opportunity. Earlier in the week, the Croat became just one of three players in the sport’s history to hit 9,000 aces in their career, joining Goran Ivanisevic and Andy Roddick. He added 21 aces to that total on Thursday.

The win puts Karlovic into the Doha semifinals and a matchup with fourth-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer, who needed just 69 minutes to move past Germany’s Dustin Brown 6-2, 6-2.

“I think the conditions favored me,” said Ferrer of the wind. “Dustin has a very good serve and with the wind it was more difficult for him than me. Fortunately, I could win playing solid, because I cannot do too much with the wind.”

Third-seeded Tomas Berdych cruised past France’s Richard Gasquet 6-1, 6-2 to reach the semis. Berdych nailed four break points and saved the only one he faced to move past the sixth-seeded Gasquet.

In the semis, he will meet the winner of the match between Italian Andrea Seppi and Croat Ivan Dodig. 


Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
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