By Mike McIntyre
Croatian Ivo Karlovic is known for two things. The first, something that one notices immediately upon seeing the 125th ranked tennis player in the world - that he stands a remarkable 6'10''. The second can only be seen on a tennis court and even then is sometimes hard to see if you blink too quickly - his sizzling first serve. Yup, Dr. Ivo, as he is often referred to, can crank the tennis ball upwards of 150 miles per hour on his serve.
Karlovic has been on the ATP World Tour since 2000 and has amassed a pretty amazing career based mostly on his ability to send opponents cowering in fear as his service motion sends the ball flying by them.
On Thursday in Montreal, Karlovic was beaten by 7th seed Thomas Berdych 6-3, 7-6(2) in the third round of the Rogers Cup. For a player who had lost seven of eight matches coming into the event, his moderate success here this week is a step in the right direction.
I found some time to speak with Ivo one-on-on earlier in the week and was impressed with how softly a man of his size can speak but also by his sense of humor that comes across quite easily despite not speaking English as a first language.
I had to ask Karlovic what the pros and cons of living life from such a high vantage point. Not surprisingly the pros category included having a unique view of the world.
"Well it is good because I can overlook everything. When I walk down the street I can see a mile away even though my eyes are not as good as when I was young but I can still see a lot more than everybody else."
I was surprised, however, with the restrictions that the Croat mentioned on the flip side of things.
"The only thing which I don’t like is I cannot buy a car which I like. I like sports cars but I cannot drive them. I tried once to fit in a Lamborghini and it didn’t go that well!"
I guess an austin-mini is out of the question then. Too bad, could you imagine "Dr. Ivo" driving around in an Austin Powers-inspired mini with personalized plates?
Karlovic was happy to oblige all the questions I threw at him and seemed eager to address the issue of his supposed one-dimensional game. Sure the guy can serve better than pretty much any of his peers, but he must also have some functional tools to help him break his opponents when they are delivering their own rockets?
"I think in today’s game there is not a lot of volleyers," Karlovic noted, "so I think I am doing a pretty good job. Also everybody thinks that I don’t move as well but for my height and my weight I think I am pretty good at it."
Ivo is also one of the most active Twitter users amongst professional tennis players. A recent tweet from his account included, "Some guy on the street just asked me where he can buy weed!! Maybe I should shave..."
That sense of humor also came up when asked if he feels like one of the elder-statesmen on the tour at the age of 32. "Yeah, I mean of course. I remember when I turned thirty years old it was the most depressing day of my life, so I know how Roger (Federer) must feel now. But you know, on the other hand I’m also grateful that I played this long because a lot people don’t."
Karlovic revealed that baring injuries, he foresees his career lasting a few more years. With his serve unlikely to taper-off anytime soon and with continued progress on the volleys and foot-speed that he touched upon, there is no reason to believe that opponents won't be dodging those bullets for several more seasons.
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