Following Ivo Karlovic's impressive run to the finals of the SAP Open last week in San Jose, Calif., Chris Mullin, GM of the NBA's Golden State Warriors, said the following to his good friend and tennis savant Brad Gilbert about the 6-foot-10 behemoth, "If the guy can bang inside, we might have a roster spot for him."
While Mully may have been joking, most guys on tour thought seeing him in an NBA uniform as opposed to the other side of the net was the best idea they had heard in a long time. After last week, James Blake and Mardy Fish were prepared to personally begin Ivo's basketball education by inviting him to a local gym to school him on the finer points of the pick 'n' roll.
There's only one way to describe playing against Karlovic … it ain't any fun. Because of his towering size, he is able to create serving angles that no one in the history of the game has been able to create before. One of the first lessons that we all learn as a server is to hit "up" on the ball in order to bring it down. Standing at 6-10, Ivo makes contact with the ball at over 10 feet on his serve. Thus, he is the only player in the world who can hit "down" on the ball. Imagine how much easier it would be if you were able to serve from the service line. That is how he feels from the baseline.
Consider his serving statistics: In just 11 matches so far this season, he already has a commanding lead in number of aces on tour, with 225. That's an average of over 20 aces per match. (Incidentally, that's about the number of aces per year for yours truly). Against those 225 aces, Ivo has double-faulted a mere 22 times. He is sixth on tour in first-serve percentage, a category generally reserved for players who "grind" by just getting their first serve in the court to start the point and try to win from the baseline. And when he does make his first serve, he is first in percentage of first serves won. Not surprisingly, he is first in percentage of service games won, holding serve a whopping 94 percent of the time.
As overwhelmingly impressive as his service game statistics are, his return game statistics are equally as bad. That is why he has played more tiebreakers than anyone else on tour. In fact, of the 11 matches he has contested this year, he has played just one that did not involve at least one tiebreaker.
No one in the history of the game takes the racket out of your hand as much as Ivo. If he comes anywhere close to his target on his serve, it really doesn't matter what you do on the other end. Because his service game is so tactically dominating and his return game is so inconsistent, an opponent actually hits fewer balls during a match with Karlovic than against anyone else. Therefore, you walk off the court and you really cannot evaluate how you played.
Currently, Karlovic is a threat to beat anyone in the world on any given day. However, he is also a threat to lose to anyone in the world on any given day. The challenge of playing him is more of a discomfort factor than anything else. Karlovic makes his opponent feel as if he has virtually no control over the outcome of the match. That is extremely unsettling. Hanging in there mentally is a tremendous challenge. You never know when it may come, but you may get only one or two opportunities to get your racket on the ball during the course of the match to break serve. If you are not prepared for that opportunity, the match is over before you know it.
Admittedly, Ivo's success is difficult for many tennis observers, myself included, to accept. It has nothing to do with his personality. He is an amiable guy. However, his game is decidedly one-dimensional. It just does not seem fair that he should have such a great opportunity when his game lacks the overall complexity generally deemed necessary to be a successful professional tennis player.
Unfortunately for the rest of the tour, Ivo showed signs last week of developing confidence in his return game; both in his forehand groundstroke and in his effectiveness at the net. It may be only a matter of time before he develops an effective game plan for returning serve. If that ever happens, a Grand Slam title is not out of the question.
Anyone have Mully's cell phone number?
