When you don’t have anyone to hit with, the only shot that you can really practice is the serve. And that is exactly what Ivo Karlovic did. While growing up in the war-filled Croatia, Karlovic struggled to find hitting partners. In order to practice, he took a bucket of balls out onto the court and just served to no one for hours each day. It’s no wonder he has one of the most dominating serves in the game (it also doesn’t hurt that he’s 6’10”).
All of that practice has rewarded Karlovic one of the most unreturnable serves in professional tennis. Even the most talented returner in the game, Novak Djokovic, struggles and the Croatian even has a better head-to-head against the #1.
Having once clocked a 156 mile an hour serve, the Croatian comfortably hits an average 132 mile an hour serve. He leads in the 2015 aces count with just over 1,000 and reached his 10,000th career ace only last week during his second round victory against Milos Raonic at the Roger’s Cup. He is just shy of the record number of career aces, held by his fellow countryman Goran Ivanisevic.
While he is at an age, 36 to be exact, when most players either retire or are already out of the professional circuit, Karlovic only seems to be improving in the rankings. When asked about his tennis goals, he answers, “Now I am looking to get the record.” As long as he can crank out those jaw-dropping aces, Karlovic isn’t going anywhere.
