Ivo Karlovic battered his way into the semi-finals of the ATP Halle tournament by smashing a record 45 aces past a bewildered Tomas Berdych en route to a 7-5, 6-7 (8/10), 6-3 victory.
Croatia's Ivo Karlovic reacts during the ATP Gerry Weber Open quarter-final tennis match against Czech's Tomas Berdych in Halle, western Germany on Jun 19, 2015. (Photo: AFP/DPA/Maja Hitij)
BERLIN: Giant Croat Ivo Karlovic battered his way into the semi-finals of the ATP Halle tournament by smashing a record 45 aces past a bewildered Tomas Berdych en route to a 7-5, 6-7 (8/10), 6-3 victory on Friday (Jun 19).
Japan’s world number five Kei Nishikori also landed in the semi-finals after beating Poland’s Jerzy Janowicz 6-4, 5-7, 6-3.
The 36-year-old Karlovic, who stands 2.11m (6ft 11in) tall, won the match with the last of his aces and now has 94 on the Halle grass courts from three rounds of tennis.
“I’m extremely happy about the record,” Karlovic said of his 45 aces, a new record in a best-of-three set match. “Hitting aces helps a lot, you can avoid the volleys. I was surprised when I was told on court after the match how many aces I hit. I didn’t know it was that many. Hopefully I can continue like that in the semi-final.”
His record came just two days after Germany’s Sabine Lisicki blasted a record 27 aces in a match in Birmingham – a new record for a WTA tournament.
In the Halle semi-finals Karlovic, who beat Novak Djokovic in Doha this season, will play either Roger Federer or Florian Mayer.
Second seed Nishikori will take on the winner of the match between Frenchman Gael Monfils and Italy’s Andreas Seppi after the 25-year-old Japanese took two and a half hours to make the final four for the second year running.
Last year, after beating Monfils in the quarters, Nishikori was defeated by Federer, who went on to win the tournament for a seventh time.
Source AFP
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