Photo: Reuters
Another Australian Open and another lackluster performance from Croatia’s tennis players. Ivan Ljubičić, seeded at #28 for the Aussie Open, fell to Slovak qualifier Lukas Lacko in five sets during first round play while Ivan Dodig was forced to retire early due to injury after taking the first set from Portugal’s Frederico Gil, also in the first round. That left only Dr. Ivo Karlović to carry the Croatian flag on the men’s side with an injured Marin Čilić unable to take part in the year’s first grand slam event.
Karlović showed promise in the opening round, defeating Austrian Jurgen Melzer (#31) in straight sets and then Argentine Carlos Berlocq in four sets two days later, setting up a third round affair with world #3 and 16-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer.
Photo: Reuters
Ivo Karlović and his one-tricky pony plan of ‘serve, serve and serve hard!’ nearly worked against Federer in the first set. After dueling it out and holding serve in all 12 games, both players forced a first set tiebreak with Federer making the first mistake, giving the 6′ 10″ Croatian a break and position to go up one set against the legendary Switzer. However, Dr. Ivo faltered before serving out giving Federer a 7-6(6) first set win. It looked as if Karlović’s confidence dropped in the second set as he played ‘serve and volley’ on nearly every point. Federer held serve again and broke Ivo once to take the second set 7-5.
With Karlović down two sets and his mobility a liability, Federer had his way with the Croatian in the third set, easily winning 6-3 to claim a berth in the fourth round. Karlović lives and dies by his bazooka serve. If the opposing player can return it, he is all but done. He rarely breaks world-class players and cannot play long points. It’s fun watching the guy do his thing when he is on, but when he isn’t, it’s damn well ugly. If only Karlović could have signed up for basketball lessons when he was a kid.
The man is still a legend on Twitter @IvoKarlovic
@Wallace….yes all of us are born and bred outside Cro, just like Tomic. And some I would classify just like Tomic, more American/Canadian/Australian than Croatian. Nothing wrong with that, but I wont be rooting for a kid who I dont consider to be croatian. I see him more as an aussie-hrvat, than a hrvat.
I stand by my thoughts…the kid is a douche. He can drive around with his orange BMW.
Ziva Istina don’t drive orange cars.
Ziva,
You had me at orange beemer.
@Wallace,
You make an excellent point.Tomic would make a great interview. I don’t know much about the kid besides his “Syracuse Beamer” and hot girlfriend. On je nas.
Ziva: “I know some in Cro want to adopt him as a “croatian” player, but he is an aussie to me.”
As far as I know, the creators of this site and most of the people who comment on these boards were born AND bred in countries other than Croatia.
Thanks Ante…..
Quite simply, I’m Ziva Istina (for all the clowns that have no humor, I type that with the sarcasm key) 🙂
Plus, I’m not sure what to think of Tomic partnering with a serb in mixed doubles. I know some in Cro want to adopt him as a “croatian” player, but he is an aussie to me.
Gotcha.
Yeh Tomic has douchebag written all over him. I actually like Dolgopolov and root for him. How ziva istina knows that an unseeded Australian tennis player drives an orange Beemer is beyond me.
You’re either on the inside or one of the best bullshitters I’ve come across, even better than me, and you dont bullshit a bullshitter.
First game in the fifth set at break point for the other guy tomic yelled out or replay ( not sure) as he returned a ball from the baseline. Dolgopolov was surprised and half-assed his next shot, but the umpire did nothing. Do go Olof lost the point and the game. Bullshit move by tomic.
Plus the kid is too cocky for my liking. Dude drives an orange BMW….that is all you need to know about him….
@ Ziva,
I fell asleep during the 4th set. What happened exactly. I’ve read something about challenging midpoint.
Yes, Tomic is an Australian-Cro like Bogut, but I don’t like the kid. Wreaks of arrogance. Has a bangin’ girlfriend though!!
Rangers holding talks with West Ham for Jelavic…..
Anti-racist is a code word for anti-White.
For you multiCULTist “anti-racist” freaks who are more loyal to words and paper rather than our people; you’d rather a member of your family get married and have children with a non-White (thereby decreasing the number of White people while at the same time increasing the number of non-Whites in White countries and ONLY White countries, i.e. geNOcide-by-assimilation, coined by Australian-Aboriginal Mick Dodson) who is a certified “citizen” in the same country you are a citizen? or would you rather said family member marry and procreate with a fellow White who is a citizen of another country?
What Tomic did last night at the start of the 5th set was very unprofessional and if I was Dolgopolov I would have beaten Tomic’s head in the locker room. Kid should have apologized and admitted his mistake, instead he operated as if nothing was said.
At least we still have Bernard Tomic to support. One of the many Aussie-Croats in sports. Big win over Dolgopolov. Has Federer in the next round, what do you think his chances are?
Karlovic did what he could, but in the end he just wasn’t good enough. Ivo had Federer on the ropes in the first set tie break but failed to close out the set with a serve. Everything went downhill after that. Congrats to Ivo for making it this far. A straight set loss to Federer is nothing to be ashamed of.