20th seed Ivo Karlovic has broken the Australian Open record for the most aces in a match during his marathon 6-7(6), 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 22-20, win over Argentina’s Horacio Zeballos.
Spending a total of five hours and 14 minutes on the court in Melbourne Park, the 37-year-old seemed destined for a shock exit after dropping the first two sets in under 80 minutes. Despite his tentative start against the Argentine, Karlovic managed to turn his fortunes around with the help of a record 75 aces. His aces tally is the fourth highest in any ATP Tour match. In front of him is John Isner and Nicolas Mahut, who hit 113 and 103 aces during their historic 11-hour clash at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships. Karlovic also takes third spot after hitting 78 past Radek Stepanek in a 2009 Davis Cup match.
The 84-game match has also set a new Australian Open record in the tiebreak era for the most games played within a match. To put this tally into perspective, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic played a combined total of 57 games in their first round matches. Karlovic sealed the win with a lob that Zeballos failed to return in.
#AusOpen | El último punto entre Karlovic vs. Zeballos. El croata es hombre record en Australia al concretar 75 aces pic.twitter.com/a7FpUVoQvI
— Mundo Tenis (@mundotenis31) 17 January 2017
Karlovic’s triumph is also the second longest in Australian Open history, equaling Nadal’s semi-final win over Fernando Verdasco in 2009. The longest match was the 2012 final between Nadal and Djokovic, which lasted five hours and 53 minutes.
Awaiting Karlovic in the second round will be Australia’s Andrew Whittington, who defeated Czech player Adam Pavlasek in four sets.
