Ivo Karlovic is 37 years old, but he clearly still has some gas left in the tank.
A 2½-hour match is par for the course at majors, but what about a 2½-hour set? That's how long it took Karlovic and opponent Horacio Zeballos to finish their epic 22-20 final set Tuesday at the Australian Open.
"This is what I will, after my career, remember," Karlovic said, according to an Associated Press report. "If it was easy match or I lost easy, I wouldn't remember. But this one, definitely, I will remember forever."
Croat @ivokarlovic bombed down an epic 75 aces during his match today, setting a new #AusOpen record! (Previously 51 by Johansson in 2005). pic.twitter.com/uj2FczlTt8
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 17, 2017
It was the culmination of an incredible 6-7 (6), 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 22-20 comeback for Karlovic, who destroyed the Australian Open record with 75 aces. The previous record was 51, set by Joachim Johansson against Andre Agassi in 2005.
The 6-foot-11 Karlovic is known for his massive serve, and he needed it after falling behind two sets to love to start the match. The match itself set a record for the most games (84) at the Australian Open but fell well short of the famous 11-hour battle between John Isner and Nicholas Mahut at Wimbledon in 2010, which finished with a stunning 70-68 fifth set.
Karlovic won't have long to recover before his next match against Australian Andrew Whittington.
"I will have two days now," Karlovic said. "I'm just going to do the ice bath, try to hit good, go to sleep early. Hopefully that will be enough."
