Karlovic’s ‘Epic’ Twitter Q&A: ‘I Have No Recollection Of Those Lobs’
06-Jan-2021 19:18:00 | ATP World Tour
As he approaches the start of his 21st season on the ATP Tour at the Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com, 2015 champion Ivo Karlovic took to Twitter for an “epic” Q&A session with fans.
Currently ranked No. 144 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, Karlovic is set to open against seventh seeded Pablo Andujar in his first match of the year – and he’ll be hoping the Spaniard won’t be taking strategy notes from social media. Towering above his foes at 6’ 11”, most players wouldn’t think to attempt hitting a lob against Karlovic. But, as a fan reminded Karlovic of in the Q&A, lobs were part of Andy Murray’s winning strategy in their 2015 Wimbledon clash.
Although Karlovic said that he couldn’t recall, it proved to be a memorable moment for Murray fans as the British player successfully lobbed Karlovic six times en route to a four-set victory.
Karlovic also revealed some of the special physical care he has to take as a result of his height.
Of course, anyone measuring Karlovic’s height would probably be urged into taking up basketball. The Croatian player revealed why he chose to stick with tennis instead.
Big-serving Karlovic holds the all-time record for hitting the most aces throughout his career, and he’s hoping to add more to his current tally of 13,619 at Delray Beach. But he gave a shout out to a different ace king, singling out Australian great Wayne Arthurs as the best server he’s ever played against.
The pair faced each other twice in their FedEx Head2Head record, with Arthurs winning both of their clashes at 2003 Shanghai and 2004 Adelaide.
“I just could not return [Arthurs’] serve. I had no idea where he was going to hit it, which speed, what direction,” Karlovic told Tennis.com in 2019. “Andy Roddick would always get 80 percent of his first serves in. Federer's serve is great, but it is what he does next with his strokes after the return comes back that is so good.”
Karlovic continues to set records, though this time with his age – and the 41-year-old has repeatedly said he is in no rush to retire. In fact, he gave a tongue-in-cheek nod to #NextGenATP star Jannik Sinner and joked that the Italian, who is 19, will likely retire before he’s finished playing.
Stay tuned for more, said Karlovic.
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