Karlovic one of the greatest servers of all time?

Karlovic one of the greatest servers of all time?

  • Up there witrh the greats

    Votes: 26 40.6%

  • On his day he's one of the greats

    Votes: 26 40.6%

  • Not in a million years

    Votes: 12 18.8%
  • Total voters
    64
C

christos_liaskos

Professional
If you saw Ivo Karlovic reach the final of the SAP Open then you will probably have an idea of what I am talking about. He hit well over 100 aces in 12 sets of tennis. Surely that kind of record is up there with the best, I am sure he set a new tournament record anyway.

So my question is, is he one of the best of all time or is it just on his day that he can rank along side the best or his not there anyway?

Its a shame he hasnt got much more to his game, even his volleys which backed up his huge serve didnt seem to good at times. If only he could have one of the world's top technical coaches work with him. If his backhand was improved so it wasnt such a weakness and if his forehand was a bit more consistent in its attack then surely he would be a top 40 or 30 player with the occasional good run in slams and masters with such a huge serve.

If he had as much pumped into him in terms of coaches and world class trainers as his opponent in San Jose (Murray) then he could be one of his generations top player's. But clearly people either dont see much potential in him and wont invest like that LTA has done with Murray or he is not able himself to fund coaches like Gilbert and fitness trainers like Michael Johnson. (Dont let this last paragraph make any of you think this is a dig at Murray by the way, I am one of his biggest fans, well not a fan, just believe he can reach the top.)
 
D

Deleted member 3771

Guest
I havnt seen enough of him in consecutive matches to really judge, but Wayne Arthurs is one of the best ever . He has the top 2 records of consecutive service holds 109 and 111 games. 111 games was in 1 tournament at Wimbledon. I wander what Karlovic's record is.
 
The Grand Slam

The Grand Slam

Hall of Fame
RICOH ATP MATCHFACTS

Feb 19, 2007

Service Game Leaders

Aces
1. Karlovic, Ivo 225
2. Ljubicic, Ivan 195
3. Guccione, Chris 157
4. Baghdatis, Marcos 149
5. Roddick, Andy 127
6. Fish, Mardy 110
7. Gonzalez, Fernando 106
8. Querrey, Sam 103
9. Blake, James 101
10. Murray, Andy 96

1st Serve Percentage
1. Monaco, Juan 73%
1. Llodra, Michael 73%
1. Patience, Olivier 73%
4. Horna, Luis 72%
5. Ferrero, Juan Carlos 69%
6. Karlovic, Ivo 68%
6. Roddick, Andy 68%
8. Lee, Hyung-Taik 67%
9. Roitman, Sergio 67%
10. Peya, Alexander 67%

1st Serve Points Won
1. Karlovic, Ivo 86%
2. Ljubicic, Ivan 83%
3. Querrey, Sam 81%
4. Johansson, Thomas 80%
5. Fish, Mardy 79%
5. Guccione, Chris 79%
5. Berdych, Tomas 79%
5. Hewitt, Lleyton 79%
5. Canas, Guillermo 79%
10. Blake, James 78%
10. Roddick, Andy 78%

2nd Serve Points Won
1. Federer, Roger 63%
2. Nadal, Rafael 59%
2. Horna, Luis 59%
4. Blake, James 58%
4. Johansson, Joachim 58%
4. Falla, Alejandro 58%
7. Malisse, Xavier 57%
7. Del Potro, Juan Martin 57%
7. Pless, Kristian 57%
7. Melzer, Jurgen 57%

Service Games Won
1. Karlovic, Ivo 94%
2. Johansson, Joachim 91%
3. Ljubicic, Ivan 90%
4. Guccione, Chris 89%
4. Querrey, Sam 89%
6. Blake, James 88%
6. Nadal, Rafael 88%
6. Roddick, Andy 88%
6. Horna, Luis 88%
10. Djokovic, Novak 87%
10. Gonzalez, Fernando 87%

Break Points Saved
1. Querrey, Sam 74%
2. Falla, Alejandro 73%
3. Baghdatis, Marcos 72%
4. Ljubicic, Ivan 71%
5. Ferrero, Juan Carlos 70%
6. Becker, Benjamin 69%
6. Djokovic, Novak 69%
6. Nadal, Rafael 69%
6. Guccione, Chris 69%
6. Gicquel, Marc 69%
 
G

go_nadal

Semi-Pro
TheNatural said:
I havnt seen enough of him in consecutive matches to really judge, but Wayne Arthurs is one of the best ever . He has the top 2 records of consecutive service holds 109 and 111 games. 111 games was in 1 tournament at Wimbledon. I wander what Karlovic's record is.
Click to expand...

Wow... i didnt no that... Thats pretty kool though
 
C

christos_liaskos

Professional
The Grand Slam said:
RICOH ATP MATCHFACTS

Feb 19, 2007

Service Game Leaders

Aces
1. Karlovic, Ivo 225
2. Ljubicic, Ivan 195
3. Guccione, Chris 157
4. Baghdatis, Marcos 149
5. Roddick, Andy 127
6. Fish, Mardy 110
7. Gonzalez, Fernando 106
8. Querrey, Sam 103
9. Blake, James 101
10. Murray, Andy 96

1st Serve Percentage
1. Monaco, Juan 73%
1. Llodra, Michael 73%
1. Patience, Olivier 73%
4. Horna, Luis 72%
5. Ferrero, Juan Carlos 69%
6. Karlovic, Ivo 68%
6. Roddick, Andy 68%
8. Lee, Hyung-Taik 67%
9. Roitman, Sergio 67%
10. Peya, Alexander 67%

1st Serve Points Won
1. Karlovic, Ivo 86%
2. Ljubicic, Ivan 83%
3. Querrey, Sam 81%
4. Johansson, Thomas 80%
5. Fish, Mardy 79%
5. Guccione, Chris 79%
5. Berdych, Tomas 79%
5. Hewitt, Lleyton 79%
5. Canas, Guillermo 79%
10. Blake, James 78%
10. Roddick, Andy 78%

2nd Serve Points Won
1. Federer, Roger 63%
2. Nadal, Rafael 59%
2. Horna, Luis 59%
4. Blake, James 58%
4. Johansson, Joachim 58%
4. Falla, Alejandro 58%
7. Malisse, Xavier 57%
7. Del Potro, Juan Martin 57%
7. Pless, Kristian 57%
7. Melzer, Jurgen 57%

Service Games Won
1. Karlovic, Ivo 94%
2. Johansson, Joachim 91%
3. Ljubicic, Ivan 90%
4. Guccione, Chris 89%
4. Querrey, Sam 89%
6. Blake, James 88%
6. Nadal, Rafael 88%
6. Roddick, Andy 88%
6. Horna, Luis 88%
10. Djokovic, Novak 87%
10. Gonzalez, Fernando 87%

Break Points Saved
1. Querrey, Sam 74%
2. Falla, Alejandro 73%
3. Baghdatis, Marcos 72%
4. Ljubicic, Ivan 71%
5. Ferrero, Juan Carlos 70%
6. Becker, Benjamin 69%
6. Djokovic, Novak 69%
6. Nadal, Rafael 69%
6. Guccione, Chris 69%
6. Gicquel, Marc 69%
Click to expand...

Thanks Grand Slam for posting the actual facts, I couldnt be bothered to do it myself lol. But the facts do seem to back up my choice that 'on his day he is up there with the greatest'.
 
C

ctbmar

Semi-Pro
The category that seems to be the most important is 2nd Serve Points Won.
One of the reasons why Federer is on top is because of he is top in this category. I don't remember Karlovic was in many top 10s of RICOH ATP MATCHFACTS for the whole calender year 2006, but Federer was No.1 in 3 or 4 of the categories and made it to all top 10 for all categories. But right now, these are just early stages of 2007, Federer is only top 10 in 1 category but he has won the Australian Open, while Karlovic is in the top 10 in quite a few categories and reached an ATP final.

2nd Serve Points Won
1. Federer, Roger 63%
2. Nadal, Rafael 59%
 
D

Deleted member 3771

Guest
Arthurs retired that explains why hes not on any of the lists. The big Gucc is doing well. I bet a top player would hate to face any of these guys at Wimbledon. Gucc could take out some guy like Nadal first round.
 
noeledmonds

noeledmonds

Professional
ctbmar said:
The category that seems to be the most important is 2nd Serve Points Won.
One of the reasons why Federer is on top is because of he is top in this category. I don't remember Karlovic was in many top 10s of RICOH ATP MATCHFACTS for the whole calender year 2006, but Federer was No.1 in 3 or 4 of the categories and made it to all top 10 for all categories. But right now, these are just early stages of 2007, Federer is only top 10 in 1 category but he has won the Australian Open, while Karlovic is in the top 10 in quite a few categories and reached an ATP final.

2nd Serve Points Won
1. Federer, Roger 63%
2. Nadal, Rafael 59%
Click to expand...

Karlovicic was top for service games won and 1st serve points won throghout 2006. The reason he was not on the ATP statistics is he did not play enough matches to be included in them later in the year. Karlovicic also averaged most aces per match last year. Noone is arguing that Karlovicic is a better player than Federer or Nadal, but he is a very fine server. He serving statistics are even more impressive given his relativly poor ground strokes and volleys. His serves are very often either winners or the the simpleist put aways.
 
illkhiboy

illkhiboy

Hall of Fame
I really like watching this guy play. As someone said, he needs some guidance to take him to the top. I think his main problem is his mental game. Though he is confident in his serve when down break points, he is not great at strategizing nor is he a player who pulls out matches. Just look at the number of tie-breaks he loses. With such a big serve, all he has to do is get a couple of mini-breaks in the breaker and the set is his.

As far as I have seen, his volleys are alright. Of course, it's not easy for him to dig down and pick up low balls, but he has tremendous reach and is fairly hard to pass.

His forehand as someone pointed out, needs to be more consistent. He can play some big shots off it, like against Agassi at the US Open, or against Roddick at Madrid. He came within a point of taking a set from Agassi, by trading groundstrokes and then putting away easy volleys.

He beat Roddick at Madrid last year and Hewitt at Wimbledon so you know he is a player capable of much damage. Infact, his clay season last year was going pretty good but then he got injured which ruined his whole year.
 
Andres

Andres

G.O.A.T.
Probably, one of the most intimidating serves of all time.
Yes, I'll put Karlovic (serve by serve), in the heights of Sampras, Ivanisevic, Becker and Krajicek.
 
BiGGieStuFF

BiGGieStuFF

Hall of Fame
Just goes to show that you need more than just a serve to get to the top. The stats are only for 2007 so the pool sample is a bit small, but I remember him being at the top for 2006 as well.

His serving stats are better than Roddick's but I know some of you would disagree but Andy does have an above average ground game to back up his serve as well.

Not a one trick pony he is hmmm?
 
P

pound cat

G.O.A.T.
ctbmar said:
The category that seems to be the most important is 2nd Serve Points Won.

One of the reasons why Federer is on top is because of he is top in this category. I don't remember Karlovic was in many top 10s of RICOH ATP MATCHFACTS for the whole calender year 2006, but Federer was No.1 in 3 or 4 of the categories and made it to all top 10 for all categories. But right now, these are just early stages of 2007, Federer is only top 10 in 1 category but he has won the Australian Open, while Karlovic is in the top 10 in quite a few categories and reached an ATP final.

2nd Serve Points Won
1. Federer, Roger 63%
2. Nadal, Rafael 59%
Click to expand...

A maxim in tennis is "You're only as good as your second serve" What you just posted supports this.

Good post.
 
P

pound cat

G.O.A.T.
christos_liaskos said:
If

If he had as much pumped into him in terms of coaches and world class trainers as his opponent in San Jose (Murray) then he could be one of his generations top player's. But clearly people either dont see much potential in him and wont invest like that LTA has done with Murray or he is not able himself to fund coaches like Gilbert and fitness trainers like Michael Johnson. (Dont let this last paragraph make any of you think this is a dig at Murray by the way, I am one of his biggest fans, well not a fan, just believe he can reach the top.)
Click to expand...


Karlovic got no help or support from the Croation tennis Federeration and in fact didn't have a coach (or even know how to drive a car) until he started to make substantial money. And I don't know the name of his coach so it's not anyone well known. Imagine his game if he had been taught a killer second serve . Hopefully he is working hard on that.
 
illkhiboy

illkhiboy

Hall of Fame
I don't know how anyone could think Karlovic is NOT one of the best servers ever. 94% games held is ridiculous. Sampras and Kracijek with far superior skills after the serve averaged around 90. Karlovic, mainly because of the insane trajectory he can get, is THE best server in tennis today. By the way, he serves in the 130's (and occasionally 140's) regularly, something you won't see from Roddick very often.
 
Andres

Andres

G.O.A.T.
pound cat said:
Karlovic got no help or support from the Croation tennis Federeration and in fact didn't have a coach (or even know how to drive a car) until he started to make substantial money. And I don't know the name of his coach so it's not anyone well known. Imagine his game if he had been taught a killer second serve . Hopefully he is working hard on that.
Click to expand...
His kickserve is insane, actually. 100-110 mph, and sometimes, kicking up to 6'3'' or 6'4''.

His lacking a ground game, that's the pity. He doesn't have an attackable 2nd serve, and it's quite offensive, but he doesn't seem to win many points off the 2nd serve :?
 
Ivanišević

Ivanišević

Rookie
pound cat said:
Karlovic got no help or support from the Croation tennis Federeration and in fact didn't have a coach (or even know how to drive a car) until he started to make substantial money. And I don't know the name of his coach so it's not anyone well known. Imagine his game if he had been taught a killer second serve . Hopefully he is working hard on that.
Click to expand...

He still doesn't have a coach
 
F

fastdunn

Legend
In early 90's, on a TV interview with an American player(Tim Mayotte
I think), he was asked who would be the best servers in the world.
He paused a bit and answered "Uh.... couple of my friends in NBA.."
 
GRANITECHIEF

GRANITECHIEF

Hall of Fame
I thought Roddick's old coach, Tariq Benehabilles, was Karlo's coach.

Interesting to see that SamQ is mentioned on several of the lists.
 
Nick Irons

Nick Irons

Semi-Pro
Aces contibute how much to the 86 % First Serve won, I wonder ?

Another telltale stat might be him being Ranked 21st on 2nd Serve Points Won.

All that bite and no game.

Surely, Greatest Servers Ever should count for results right ?
 
noeledmonds

noeledmonds

Professional
Nick Irons said:
Aces contibute how much to the 86 % First Serve won, I wonder ?

Another telltale stat might be him being Ranked 21st on 2nd Serve Points Won.

All that bite and no game.

Surely, Greatest Servers Ever should count for results right ?
Click to expand...

The fact that Karlovicic can win so many service games without other good shots is testonimy to how good his service is.
 
B

Banger

Rookie
I have rarely seen Ivo play on tv but what I saw from him against B. Becker and Murray was very impressive. He was constantly hitting in the range of 136-142 on his serve and the ones that went in were pretty much all aces or unreturnables. What really impressed me was his serve and volley and his net game, which is very good for such a big guy. If he could get more consistent on his first serve and get a better ground game he would be awesome.
 
N

NamRanger

G.O.A.T.
I remember when he played Agassi in the U.S. Open in 2005 I believe. What a crazy match, one of the best serves against one of the best returners. I believe it was decided in 3 tiebreaks IIRC. Agassi said he's never played against a serve like that in his interview, saying that he would just have to dive for it and hope he gets to it.


Karlovic did upset Hewitt at Wimbledon 2003, that was a big shocker. Hewitt just couldn't get to any of Karlovic's serves, and Hewitt's serve was pretty average that day.
 
A

avmoghe

Semi-Pro
Hm.. anybody have some statistics as to how he compares against the best server of all time - Goran Ivanesevic?
 
Andres

Andres

G.O.A.T.
avmoghe said:
Hm.. anybody have some statistics as to how he compares against the best server of all time - Goran Ivanesevic?
Click to expand...
He's averaging 18-20 aces a match, which is huge. I'm not sure if Goran averaged that much. Maybe 14-16.

Though, Goran ace records are there to STAY. 1477 aces in a season? 213 aces in a tournament? (average of 30 a match). That's a tougher :)
 
A

avmoghe

Semi-Pro
Andres Guazzelli said:
He's averaging 18-20 aces a match, which is huge. I'm not sure if Goran averaged that much. Maybe 14-16.

Though, Goran ace records are there to STAY. 1477 aces in a season? 213 aces in a tournament? (average of 30 a match). That's a tougher :)
Click to expand...

Yup, I remember that Wimbledon too :)
 
V

vudal

Banned
TheNatural said:
Arthurs retired that explains why hes not on any of the lists. The big Gucc is doing well. I bet a top player would hate to face any of these guys at Wimbledon. Gucc could take out some guy like Nadal first round.
Click to expand...

Gucc would not beat Nadal. His backhand is a liablity. He will loose in straights.
 
edberg505

edberg505

Legend
vudal said:
Gucc would not beat Nadal. His backhand is a liablity. He will loose in straights.
Click to expand...

Really? Well, you should ask Mr. Nadal what happened when he played Chris at the beginning of the year. I just find it hilarious that whenever Nadal plays a big server he claims they have the best serve ever. And since this match happened on rebound ace I wouldn't like Nadal's chances against Chris on grass.
 
Andres

Andres

G.O.A.T.
Chris' serve isn't TOO FAR AWAY from being the best serve ever :p

Insane pace, insane spin, insane angle (he's 6'7' and lefty), and lots lots lots of aces. 45 aces in his lost to Rochus, and 50 aces in 3 sets on grass... A serve to be feared :)
 
M

MTF07

Semi-Pro
I do think his serve is one of the most dominating the game of tennis has ever seen, but due to the fact that he doesn't exactly possess devastating ground strokes, he'll never be anything more than a top 50 player. He's still a dangerous opponent for anyone to play against because he's so near impossible to break.
 
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