By Chris Oddo | Sunday July 17, 2016

 

Ivo Karlovic saved three match points to defeat Gilles Muller in the Newport final.

Photo Source: Hall of Fame Classic

He’s old. But he isn’t that old.

Bomb-serving Ivo Karlovic became the oldest ATP player to claim a title since Marty Riessen in 1979 at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, Rhode Island by defeating Gilles Muller, 6-7(2), 7-6(5), 7-6(12).

Karlovic had failed in his previous two tries in the final at Newport, but on Sunday he squeaked past the ATP’s grass-court win leader in 2016 by saving three championship points.

Karlovic nailed 27 aces and won 71 of 80 first-serve points to keep Muller down. The Luxembourg native has now lost all five of his ATP finals.

"After all these years when I was losing in the final and now I was finally able to do it," Karlovic said, according to ATPWorldTour.com. "And I was down a match point. That makes it even nicer."

The 26-point tiebreak was the longest deciding-set tiebreak in ATP history. Karlovic converted his fifth championship point to close, clinching his 7th ATP title.


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