Ivo Karlovic has joined former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic as just the second man to hit 10,000 career aces in a straight-sets upset of home hope Milos Raonic at the Rogers Cup on Tuesday.
The 6ft11in Karlovic sent down 22 aces on his way to a 7-6(1), 7-6(1) victory over the No. 8 seed and in the process drew closer to his Croatian compatriot’s record. The 36-year-old sent an ace down the T at 3-3 in the second set to reach the milestone and finished the match with a Tour-leading 1009 aces for the year to take his career tally to 10,004 and counting. He made no secret, his former Davis Cup teammate’s record was in his sights.
“I mean, of course, that is my goal,” Karlovic said. “I would hope that it will be this year. If not, it’s OK, also if it’s next year. Hopefully I will be able to do it, be healthy enough, and hopefully it will be soon.”
Ivanisevic needed 895 matches to reach his 10,183-ace mark. Karlovic, meanwhile, has cracked the 10,000 milestone in only his 527th match. He will go on to play the winner of No. 11 seed Richard Gasquet and Leonardo Mayer next after notching his third Top-10 win of the season.
( Courtesy of the ATP and Original Link – http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/montreal-2015-tuesday-karlovic )
Topics: 10000th ace, Atp World Tour, Ivo Karlovic, milos raonic, Montreal, Rogers Cup, sports news, Tennis
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