RICKY DIMON REPORTS ON NEWPORT TENNIS; KARLOVIC GETS THE BEST OF DUSTIN BROWN & WILL FACE A RESTED SOCK IN SEMIS

Written by: Staff on 17th July 2015

RICKY DIMON REPORTS ON NEWPORT TENNIS; KARLOVIC GETS THE BEST OF DUSTIN BROWN & WILL FACE A RESTED SOCK IN SEMIS

epa04828389 Ivo Karlovic of Croatia in action against Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine during their second round match for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 02 July 2015. EPA/SEAN DEMPSEY EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO COMMERCIAL SALES |

One well-played tiebreaker and one scalp of the Dustin Brown serve proved to be enough for Ivo Karlovic during quarterfinal action at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships on Friday. Karlovic blasted 23 aces and did not face a break point during his 7-6(3), 6-3 victory over the man who beat Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon.

The 6’11” Croat served at 68 percent in a performance that includes 17 aces and 71 percent serving in the opening frame of play.

“When a guy hits 23 aces and doesn’t let you see any second serves, it’s going to be impossible to break him,” Brown lamented. “Then he had four aces, one return winner and one service winner in the tiebreak. So there really wasn’t much I could do.”

The day’s second quarterfinal ended abruptly, as qualifier Jan Hernych saw his impressive week come to a halt in most unfortunate fashion. The veteran Czech was wrong-footed by Jack Sock, slipped, and sustained an apparent knee injury. Hernych was leading just 1-0 in the first set at the time, with Sock serving at 15-0 when the incident occurred.

Jack Sock of the US in action during his fourth round match against Roger Federer of Switzerland at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California, USA, 18 March 2015. EPA/PAUL BUCK

Karlovic and Sock will be facing each other for the fourth time in their careers and for the fourth time in the United States on Friday. The head-to-head series stands at 2-1 in favor of Karlovic, who has defeated the American twice on hard courts; 3-6, 7-6(8), 6-2 at the 2013 Indian Wells Masters and 7-6(4), 6-7(3), 6-3 one season later in Memphis. Sock exacted some revenge shortly thereafter by cruising 6-1, 6-4 on the clay courts of Houston en route to the title.

Grass obviously favors Karlovic, who reached the fourth round of Wimbledon before falling to Andy Murray. In his last two matches, the No. 2 seed has fired 52 aces and has not been broken.

Sock beat Radek Stepanek and Lukas Lacko in his first two rounds. The world No. 39 is 8-3 lifetime in Newport, while Karlovic finished runner-up last year.

The other semifinal will pit Rajeev Ram against John-Patrick Smith in an all-unseeded collision. Ram has always been at his best on grass, and the only ATP grass-court tournament in the United States has to be considered the veteran’s American favorite. He captured the Newport title six years ago in what remains the only tour-level final of his career.

Heading into Newport, Ram had no ATP-level victories this season. Smith did not have any such win in his entire career. Initially No. 14 on the alternate list, the 156th-ranked Australia benefited from a flurry of withdrawals and became the last direct acceptance into the main draw. To say Smith has made the most of his opportunity would be an understatement. The former University of Tennessee star upset countryman Bernard Tomic then took out Jared Donaldson and Tatsuma Ito.

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: Atp World Tour, Dustin Brown, Hall Of Fame Tennis Championships, Ivo Karlovic, jack sock, Newport, Ricky Dimon, Sports, Tennis News

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10sBalls_com says:

July 17, 2015 at 8:02 pm

-@Dimonator REPORTS ON #Newport TENNIS @ivokarlovic GETS THE BEST OF @DreddyTennis & WILL FACE A RESTED SOCK IN SEMIS http://t.co/eHU3loKYZN