BASEL, SWITZERLAND TENNIS NEWS, IVO KARLOVIC BEATS STAN WAWRINKA IN THE SWISS INDOORS

Written by: Staff on 29th October 2015

BASEL, SWITZERLAND TENNIS NEWS, IVO KARLOVIC BEATS STAN WAWRINKA IN THE SWISS INDOORS

epa05000648 Croatia's Ivo Karlovic reacts during his first round match against Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka at the Swiss Indoors tennis tournament at the St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland, 28 October 2015. EPA/GEORGIOS KEFALAS |

Ivo Karlovic recovered from a set and a 1-3 deficit to record the 20th Top 10 win of his career on Wednesday at the Swiss Indoors Basel.

Karlovic struck 21 aces and won 89 per cent of his first-service points to beat second seed Stan Wawrinka 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-4. It was the first time in eight years (2007 Nottingham) that he had beaten Wawrinka, who has now lost in the Basel first round in eight of his 12 appearances.

“In the beginning, it was difficult,” said Karlovic. “He was hitting his shots. But I just tried to believe, to stay in the match and hope I could turn it around. In the end, it happened.”

Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka returns the ball to Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic during their first round match at the Swiss Indoors tennis tournament at the St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland, 28 October 2015. EPA/GEORGIOS KEFALAS

Wawrinka, who reached the 2006 (l. to Gonzalez) and 2011 (l. to Federer) semi-finals, broke Karlovic to 30 in the fourth game en route to a 4-1 lead, then saved two break points in the ninth game of the 31-minute first set. Wawrinka took a 3-1 lead in the second set, but Karlovic broke in the sixth game en route to a tie-break that saw him win four of the first five points.

Karlovic broke Wawrinka’s serve in the first game of the decider and, while he could not convert two match points on Wawrinka’s serve at 3-5, 15/40, he went on to close out the victory with three straight aces. The pair’s seventh meeting lasted one hour and 48 minutes.

“They were really loud, which is normal,” said Karlovic. “This is his home crowd. They were all cheering for him. I just tried to ignore it and think positive. In the end, it paid off.”

Karlovic also kept alive his chances of breaking the record for most aces hit in a single season — Goran Ivanisevic’s 1,477 aces set in 1996. Karlovic is now on 1,361 aces for 2015. He will play qualifier Dusan Lajovic in the second round.

( Courtesy of the ATP and Original Link – http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/karlovic-upsets-wawrinka-at-basel-2015 )

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Topics: Atp World Tour, Basel tennis, Ivo Karlovic, mens tennis news, Sports, Stan Wawrinka, Swiss Indoors, Tennis

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10sBalls_com says:

October 29, 2015 at 8:51 am

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