By Skip Schwarzmam
After the first day of the 2016 Davis Cup final between Argentina and Croatia, the team score is tied at 1 match apiece with del Potro’s 6/4, 6/7 (8), 6/3, 7/5 win against Ivo Karlovic in the second singles rubber.
The players walked on court at Arena Zagreb in Zagreb, Croatia, to an already hyped up crowd thanks to a surprisingly close first match between Croatia’s Marin Cilic and Argentina’s Federico del Bonis. The Argentine, ranked 35 spots lower than Cilic, currently residing at #6, had come back from 2 sets down to force a fifth set. Even though the deciding set was a fairly routine affair, with Cilic prevailing 6/2, the excitement generated by a real and unexpected tussle meant the crowd was pumped up even more during the del Potro/Karlovic warm-up.
The umpire, GB’s James Keothavong, had to ask the crowd for quiet before Karlovic had even hit the first serve of the match. Shockingly, the Croat missed every first serve he struck in that opening game. A quick look at the Tale Of The Tape stats above show that boded ill for the King of Aces; Karlovic’s serve is one of the game’s Greatest Ever shots, but after 5 straight second serves he was broken.
Keothavong had to settle the crowd in the second game as well. This proved to be one of the recurring themes of the match, as was Karlovic’s inability to make a dent in his opponent’s service games. The Argentine held serve at 15 in the next game and rode the single break to take the first set 6/4.
While their career head-to-head is 4/1 in favor of del Potro, all their matches prior to 2016 were eons ago in tennis terms. Still, their most recent encounter was merely a month ago in Stockholm, also on an indoor hard court, when Juan Martin posted a routine 6/3 6/4 win over Karlovic. While both players are having career years – Karlovic in terms of his results, pure and simple, and del Potro because of how quickly he’s regaining a top position in the game after almost two years away due to injuries – the Argentine’s winning ways and greater versatility promised another win for him. Still, a slam bang affair between two big men with big games was expected.
For the most part that’s what the second set turned out to be, until the very end. Each man won his serve repeatedly, often quickly. Their holding of serve didn’t change everyone’s impression that del Potro was in control, however; up until then he’d won an incredible 92% of his first serve points. When he had two points for the second set at 6/4 in the ‘breaker it seemed the set was in the bag for the blue and white of the Argentine team.
But the Croatian Cannon was not done. With a game built on brinkmanship he’s not easily rattled. Karlovic fought off the two set points and jagged out a win in the tiebreaker, 8/6, leveling the match at a set all.
The third set started with del Potro quickly serving to a 40 love lead in the first game. He wobbled a bit as Karlovic took the next two points, but Juan Martin closed it out at 40/30.
By now, however, Karkovic had found some of the serving rhythm he’d been missing since the start of the match and a serving duel erupted. Of the 9 games played in the third set 4 were love games and 4 only went to 40/15. It was only when del Potro cracked Karlovic’s service delivery to break and go ahead 5/3 that a game had more than 5 points. The Tandil, Argentina, native held serve and took the 3rd set 6/3.
It appeared the 4th set would follow the form of the 3rd as each player held their opening service games at love. Then they swapped holds, both at 40/15. In truth this was more like a grass court match; the ease with which they were holding serve meant each player had to capitalize on one tiny misstep in their opponent’s serving game.
The more rounded del Potro game gave Juan Martin more chances to find a Karlovic weakness. Leading 30/15 in the 5/5 game of the 4th set Karlovic was at the net, again, and had a backhand smash. Unfortunately he went crosscourt with it; of course it was the easier shot but it was also right back at del Potro, who kept the ball in play with a lob. Karlovic’s overhead then went to del Potro’s forehand, and not very wide at that, and it was all she wrote. Juan Martin passed Ivo to level the game at 30/30. Karlovic’s less varied game had given del Potro the small openings he’d needed. More versatile players would have knocked the backhand smash to the short side. But all of us bring to the court what we have and try to make the most of it; Karlovic is no different. He’d let the door open a crack.
Karlovic had never looked really comfortable in the match. Perhaps not having played Davis Cup since 2012 made this a more anxious situation than one would have thought. On the 30/30 point his earlier serving woes resurfaced and he double-faulted. Break point for del Potro. The Croat went with his favorite serve to the ad court, which conveniently is also to del Potro’s weaker wing, his backhand: the serve was hard and to the outside. But Juan Martin guessed right and was there. He cracked one of his less-often hit doublehanders crosscourt and passed the incoming Karlovic clean-as-a-whistle. He had the break.
del Potro played solidly at 6/5, which is exactly how he’d gotten to that point; solid tennis that, in the main, Karlovic couldn’t resist or overcome. With the Argentine serving for the match at 40/15 Karlovic chipped and charged on a second serve, forcing del Potro to miss an inside-out forehand pass. But on the 40/30 point Juan Martin put paid to the contest. Game, set, match Argentina.
