By Chris Oddo | Thursday October 8, 2015
Ivo Karlovic didn’t get the win on Thursday in Beijing, but the 36-year-old Croatian got the record. Karlovic cracked 26 aces during his 7-6(5), 7-6(7) loss to Pablo Cuevas, including his record-breaking 10,238th ace in the fifth game of the second set.
More: Djokovic Brothers Bump it Up
The milestone moves Karlovic past his compatriot Goran Ivanisevic. Ivanisevic held the lead longer than expected this year because the ATP uncovered a missing 54 aces that bolstered the southpaw’s total—but it was just a matter of time before the king of aces caught and passed him.
Karlovic has mustered his 10,247 aces in 536 matches, giving him an average of 19.12 per match. Ivanisevic hit his 10,237 aces in 895 matches for an average of 11.44 per match.
The 6'11" Croatian hit his milestone ace out wide, and turned back to get another ball from the ballboy, either unaware that he had broken the record, or too busy to be concerned.
He would rain down another nine aces and save the only two break points he faced in the match, but it wasn’t good enough to get by the World No. 37 from Uruguay.
On his first match point Cuevas hammered a forehand pass that Karlovic couldn’t handle, celebrating his berth in the China Open quarterfinals.