The tallest man in tennis, No. 14 Ivo Karlovic
Six-foot-10 Ivo Karlovic at the Empire Hotel party Friday night. (Photo by Max J. Dickstein/amNY)
I was probably the only person in New York who took photographs of No. 14 seed Ivo Karlovic practicing Friday and then photographed him at the Heineken Light-sponsored players party at the Empire Hotel. The 29-year-old Karlovic is the player directly responsible for knocking Roger Federer out of the top spot in the world rankings. He did so by beating Federer in two tiebreakers at Cincinnati on Aug. 1, 7-6(6) 4-6 7-6(5).
The 6-foot-10 Croat’s ranking is a career high, and he told me at the party that his fine results are due particularly to the training work he’s put in. “I’ve been working on my physical game,” he said.
It would seem unlikely, but if Karlovic entered the top 10, he’d be the only other big server among that elite group in the men’s game. The other is Andy Roddick, who trails only Karlovic (701 aces) with his 523 aces this year.
Karlovic at practice in Flushing Meadows Friday afternoon. (Photo by Max J. Dickstein/amNY)
Karlovic, a surprisingly quick mover who mixes a good deal of serve-and-volley into his game, faces Jan Minar in the first round of the U.S. Open this week. He's in top-ranked Rafael Nadal's quarter of the men's draw.
— Max
