By Richard Pagliaro | Sunday, February 22, 2015
Ivo Karlovic cracked 13 aces and did not drop serve beating Donald Young, 6-3, 6-3, to capture his sixth career ATP title.
Photo credit: Getty
Delray Beach, Fla. — Stepping up to serve for the title, six-foot-11-inch Ivo Karlovic cast a sizeable shadow across the stadium court. Then he closed the curtain on Donald Young smacking a series of commanding blasts that threatened to bruise the back wall.
Banging his three fastest aces of the day in the final game, Karlovic dismissed Young, 6-3, 6-3, in 69 minutes to become the oldest champion in Delray Beach tournament history.
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The No. 4 seed did not drop serve in the tournament — holding in all 56 service games — erased all 19 break points he faced during the week and slammed 91 aces to break his previous tournament record of 89 aces.
Six days before celebrating his 36th birthday, Karlovic collected his sixth career title and champion's check of $84,250.
Karlovic is the oldest ATP World Tour champion since Jimmy Connors captured the 1989 Tel Aviv title at the age of 37 years, one month and he shows no signs of slowing down.
"It is unbelievable," Karlovic said. "It is really satisfying at my age to do this. It is an unbelievable feeling and this gives me a boost of confidence to go into the other events like Indian Wells and Miami."
It was a homecoming win of sorts for Karlovic, who lives in Plantation, Florida and has spent time training on public courts at Sunrise Tennis Center and at the private home court of Delray Beach tournament director Mark Baron.
In the end, the oldest man in the field was the most overwhelming.
"Last year I was in four finals and lost all of them so I really wanted to win this one," Karlovic said. "I was focused and I was doing my thing and in the end it paid off."
Launching his six-foot-11 frame into the court, Karlovic set an imposing tone at the outset. He opened with a 131 mph missile off the blue back wall with a metallic crash, prompting an audible gasp from some fans behind the baseline. When Karlovic cracked a 137 mph ace on his second serve of the match, a woman sitting six rows from the court erupted in an "Oh my God!" exclamation.
On this day, it may have taken some divine intervention to stop Karlovic.
He hit one serve with such force, it dislodged the let-cord sensor right off the net, he nearly knocked Young's racquet out of his hand with one blistering body serve and had the ball boys and linesman ducking for cover throughout the day.
It wasn't all about the ominous serve. Karlovic hit some beautiful touch volleys, a couple of biting backhand passes, won 46 percent of points played on Young's second serve, converted all three break points he earned and erased all seven break points he faced.
Karlovic is a tricky customer because his mammoth serve detonates points so quickly that opponents can't establish a rhythm with rallies. It's stop and start tennis, but the imposing image of Karlovic crashing the net can make even the most seasoned pro a little skittish. Lobbing over Karlovic is as easy as leaping over a telephone pole.
"That's what he does: He's a server and he's worked on the other aspects of his game as well," Young said. "His ground strokes have gotten better, he had a couple of good backhand passes which surprised me. He played well. He beat me. I didn't play the best I wanted to play, but all credit to him."
A soft, angled forehand volley gave Karlovic the first break and a 4-3 lead, sparking a six-game spurt for the Croatian. Young blocked back returns to earn three break points in the ensuing game, but despite dumping three of his six double faults in that game, Karlovic was in no mood for benevolence.
Answering with authority, he slammed two aces and a serve winner to deny the break points, hitting four aces in all to hold for 5-3. Young bricked a volley wide, as Karlovic won seven of the last nine points to take the opening set with successive breaks.
A demoralized Young double-faulted to drop serve for the third straight time then took out his frustrations on his racquet, splattering his Technifibre frame to the court falling behind 0-2 in the second set.
"One of the things you have to deal with when playing with him is you don't get much rhythm hitting balls, getting your rhythm in rallies," Young said. "Because he's chipping some back, coming in. It's a weird type of feeling because you're never able to sink your teeth into it."
The world No. 29 dug out of a double break point hole in the third game with a 113 mph second serve and a successful serve-and-volley, eventually holding for 3-0.
The 56th-ranked American, who is projected to rise to No. 43 in the rankings after reaching his first ATP final since 2011, is playing the best tennis of his pro career and aims to continue riding this winning wave.
"That's been the issue for me: The consistency," Young said. "Doing it back-to-back matches let alone doing it back to back weeks. The consistency is the main thing. I'll take it. It's not the outcome I fully wanted. Is it better than the outcome I might expected coming into the week? Maybe, but I want more for sure."
Serving for the match, Karlovic closed with confidence and his fiercest deliveries of the day. Firing three explosive aces, including a 142 missile on championship point, Karlovic closed emphatically. The man who trains on public courts has grown into a more complete pro whose best tennis may still be ahead of him.
"I'm healthy. I don't feel any less than I was years ago," said Karlovic. "I don't know how many more years [I'll play]. For now, I'm feeling good and always trying to push forward."