During his career to date, Ivo Karlovic has 7,141 aces and 1,137 double faults. His first-serve percentage averages 65, with 82 percent of his first-serve points won. Karlovic also wins 52 percent of his second-serve points.
The 6’ 10” Karlovic is known for his massive serve. Even today as the big man begins to slow down, his success success depends exclusively on his serve.
He holds the record for the fastest second serve in men’s tennis at 144 mph. That came against Paul Capdeville in August of 2007. His fastest first serve is 156 mph, which Karlovic achieved during a 2011 Davis Cup loss. His fastest serve remains second behind Australian Samuel Groth's 163.4.
Until 2010, Karlovic held the record for the most aces in a single match. That record, however, along with several others, was smashed by the John Isner-Nicolas Mahut first-round match at Wimbledon in 2010.
The previous record had Karlovic with 78 aces in a match against Radek Stepanek during a Davis Cup match in September in 2009. Of those, 77 were on first serves.
In 2007, the Croat became the fourth player in men’s tennis to hit more than 1,000 aces in a single season. That year Karlovic served up 1,318 aces, placing him second behind countryman Goran Ivanisevic.
His serve remains a nightmare for any player to face—no one on tour likes to look at his draw and see Karlovic in his path.
Still, the serve is really all that the big guy has. The rest of his game falls short.
Karlovic plays serve-and-volley tennis, taking advantage of weak replies to his big serve. But being 6' 10, Karlovic suffers from slow foot-speed and mediocre ground strokes.
