Hard-serving Ivo Karlovic is a long, tall drink of water that has apparently been drinking from the fountain of youth. The Croatian served his way past Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on No 3 court, 7-6(3) 4-6 7-6(2) 7-6(9), on Saturday at SW19.
With the victory Karlovic became the oldest player to reach the round of 16 a Wimbledon since Nikki Pilic in 1976. He’s also the oldest player to make the second week of a Slam since 1991 (Connors.)
Karlovic may be 36, but his arm is livelier than ever. He reached another milestone on Day 6 when he cracked his 40th of 41 aces against Tsonga, making him the first player in ATP history to hit 40 or more aces in three consecutive matches.
Karlovic might have had more aces had the umpire called this double-hit on Tsonga’s first set point in the fourth set. It was difficult to see live, but replays showed that it should have been called.
Tsonga on the possible double-hit: “It’s the job of the umpire to see it. If he didn’t see it I can’t do anything about it.” #Wimbledon
— SI Tennis (@SI_Tennis) July 4, 2015