TENNIS WIMBLEDON CHAMPIONSHIPS:IVO KARLOVIC is beginning to attract support from the mournful wing on Centre Court. The Croatian serving machine, who bears what can only be described as a sombre expression from a generous 6ft 10in frame, toned down his ace count to 35 yesterday but again bashed his way forwards.
Fernando Verdasco, the talented Spanish left-hander, gamely faced the barrage, but Karlovic’s doleful march is beginning to look like that of Goran Ivanisevic in 2001. His left arm barely intact, Ivanisevic went the whole way with a big serve.
Karlovic’s reward for ousting the bemused Verdasco, who did not have recourse to Hawkeye as he was on an outside court, is a meeting with Roger Federer.
It’s a dangerous meeting for Federer, who may have to watch as 30 to 40 aces fly by. But the Swiss will take comfort from having come through some big serving and hitting from Robin Soderling yesterday. Although Federer won in three sets, the second and third were tiebreaks. It brings his record against the Swede to 11-0.
“It was a sort of serving contest out there today,” said Federer. “Not many rallies. But I stayed calm, waited for my chances and thank God I came up with a good forehand when I had to in the breaker.”
He’s played Karlovic before. “I like those challenges. It may not be a fun match to go through but I like to beat this guy because he makes it hard on us.”
In the top half of the draw, unseeded Lleyton Hewitt drew respectful smiles. Few expected anything from the Australian as he went two sets down, before heroically taking his match against Radek Stepanek to five sets. He then burned the Czech in the fifth set 6-2 to earn a place against sixth seed Andy Roddick.
The American came through against Tomas Berdych without digging too deeply into his locker. Winning the first set on a tie break, he completed the second set 6-4 and the third 6-3 in just under two hours.
Another one of yesterday’s surprises was Spain’s Juan Carlos Ferrero. The wild-card entry beat eighth seed Gilles Simon to earn a quarter-final shot. It’s only the second time the former French Open champion has made it to this stage at Wimbledon.
