Ivo Karlović (born 28 February 1979 in Zagreb) is a
Croatian tennis player. At 208 cm (6 ft 10 in) tall,
Karlović is the tallest player ever to play in an
ATP event and is known as one of the best servers on
the tour. His best ATP singles ranking to date is
world #21, which he attained in February 2007. He is
currently ranked 21st as of February 25, 2008.
Taking advantage of his height, Karlović is heavily
reliant on his serve. With a more acute angle from
his racquet to the service line, his first serves
have a higher chance of coming in, thereby rendering
many of them unhittable, let alone returnable. With
bad returns from his opponents, he normally just has
to put the ball away for a winner without the need
of a proper volley. Some critics say he will not
make his mark being a serve-only player, but he
proved them wrong by beating top players like
Lleyton Hewitt, Andy Roddick, Fernando González and
James Blake, among others. He also nearly defeated
#1 Roger Federer in a match that ended in a tiebreak
in the final set.
Nicknamed Dr. Ivo, Karlović has now won three
singles titles, all in 2007, and one doubles title
in 2006.
