At age 37, Ivo Karlovic faces Monfils in Citi Open final
Even Ivo Karlovic willingly admits that whatever success he has on a tennis court is due mainly to his big serve.
Well, that one stroke is in fine form at the moment, and so is Karlovic, closing in on a second consecutive title at age 37.
Karlovic saved all five break points he faced and ran his service-game record to 43 for 43 this week, beating fifth-seeded American Steve Johnson 6-4, 6-4 to reach the Citi Open final.
“This is my game. This is my strength,” said the 6-foot-11 Karlovic, a Croatian seeded 13th at the hard-court tournament.
He broke Johnson in the third game of each set, right after saving break points on his own serve.
Karlovic was facing No. 2seeded Gael Monfils in the final last night. Monfils, the 2011 runner-up at Washington, advanced by breaking No. 7 Alexander Zverev four times in a 6-4, 6-0 victory that lasted only an hour.
Zverev said afterward he had been throwing up and was dehydrated, attributing the problem to something he ate and adding: “It’s not like I didn’t try.”
Monfils reached the 25th final of his career, but he’s only won five in the past. He is 2-2 against Karlovic, but they haven’t faced each other in five years.
“Ivo is the same,” said Monfils, who has accumulated 15 breaks of serve this week. “You know what to expect.”
In the women’s semifinals, No. 7 Yanina Wickmayer beat No. 6 Yulia Putintseva 6-4, 6-2, and 122nd-ranked Lauren Davis defeated 173rd-ranked Jessica Pegula 6-2, 6-3 in a matchup of 22-year-old Americans. Wickmayer, who teamed with Monica Niculescu to win the doubles title on Saturday, will be appearing in her 11th WTA singles final, while Davis - who was born in Ohio and is based in Florida - will be in her first.
Last week, at the grass-court tournament in Newport, Rhode Island, Karlovic became the oldest man since 1979 to win an ATP singles title. Now he is into another final, the 16th of his career. He is 7-8 so far.
Since losing his first six matches of 2016, Karlovic has gone 16-7.
His game is based on his serve, which comes at opponents from way up high and gets quite a bounce on Washington’s hard courts, especially in the July heat. The temperature approached 100 degrees Saturday, prompting Karlovic to say afterward: “There was this moment where I wanted to lay down.”
In the 25 years that ATP service stats cover, Karlovic leads the tour with more than 11,000 aces and by winning 92 percent of his service games. He hit 14 aces Saturday, including at 134 mph and 132 mph on the last two points.
After the match, Johnson took to Twitter to respond to some of the meaner messages he received. Among Johnson’s choice phrases: “Learn English so we know what you are trying to say” and “you are an idiot.”
Asked at his news conference about the exchanges, Johnson said he doesn’t “take it seriously, whatsoever” and considers those sending pointed messages his way “useless human beings.”