By Chris Oddo | Friday April 13, 2018
Ivo Karlovic got past Nick Kyrgios on a day of milestones at the U.S. Men's Clay-Court Championships in Housto.
Photo Source: AP
39-year-old Ivo Karlovic became the oldest ATP semifinalist in 25 years with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 win over Nick Kyrgios on Friday at the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships.
The Croatian will face American Tennys Sandgren for a spot in the final on Saturday. He cracked 18 aces and won for the first time in five career matches against the 24-year-old Aussie.
The 2007 Houston champion was pleased to go through, and happy to finally solve the Kyrgios riddle. "It's definitely a huge win. I lost against him every match up until now," he said. "I'm really happy that I won today."
Karlovic is the oldest ATP World Tour semifinalist since Jimmy Connors at San Francisco in 1993, and he can become the oldest finalist since Ken Rosewall won the 1977 Hong Kong title at the age of 43.
It was a day of milestones at River Oaks Country Club in Houston. Sandgren reached his first career semifinal with a three-set win over Argentina’s Guido Pella.
Taylor Fritz reached his first career ATP semifinal on clay with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 win over Jack Sock, and defending champion Steve Johnson edged top-seeded John Isner, 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-6(5).
During that match Isner became just the fourth player in ATP history to crack the 10,000 ace mark. Isner cracked 28 on the evening and saved both break points he faced in the loss. He joins Ivo Karlovic, Roger Federer and Goran Ivanisevic in that group.