Henman Fends Off Karlovic, Tour’s Best Serve

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The New York Sun

Tim Henman has squared off against some of the game’s best servers over the years, but he was hard-pressed yesterday to think of anyone who bludgeons the ball quite like his first-round opponent at the U.S. Open, six-foot, 10-inch Croatian, Ivo Karlovic.


Henman, seeded fifth and still a bit ginger from a back injury, escaped with a 7-6 (3), 6-7 (7), 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory yesterday, though he had to weather 39 aces and a few tense moments to do it.


“It’s coming from an angle that I’ve never seen before,” said Henman, who was dispatched by Andy Roddick in the first round last year. “He’s definitely got one of the best serves out there.”


Karlovic may never have the agility or strokes to win Wimbledon like his hero, fellow hard-serving Croatian Goran Ivanisevic, once did. But this year he’s on pace to accomplish something none of tennis’s great servers has ever done: Coming into the Open, Karlovic has struck an average of 20.5 aces per match. Since 1991, when the Association of Tennis Professionals began keeping statistics, no one has ever averaged more than 17 aces (that was done twice, including once by Ivanisevic in 1996).


Karlovic’s serve is a study in technique and rhythm – as well as a lesson in the physics of being almost a foot taller than most players. His fastest serve yesterday was 138 mph, a speed Roddick reaches regularly, but he hits the ball at such a severe angle that his serve oftentimes resembles an overhead smash struck from midcourt. Karlovic can hit flat, hard serves that clear the high part of the net on their way to the outside corner. The sound is like a clap of thunder.


Karlovic starts with his feet wide apart and his body slightly open to the court, unlike many other big servers, who often stand parallel to the baseline or even, as in the case of Taylor Dent, point their front toes away from the court to generate more shoulder turn and torque. Karlovic hunches over the service line, cradles the ball in his racket strings, and begins his toss at his knees. Then, he slides his back foot up against his left one and slugs the ball the moment it reaches its apex. The entire motion takes a mere two seconds. Karlovic’s grip and wrist are so loose that he opens his fingers as he loads up his backswing, letting the racket fall back into place as he accelerates.


As smooth as his serve is, the rest of Karlovic’s game can look quite awkward. He shanked ground strokes into the stands yesterday, and several times made mental errors by letting Henman returns go by him as he charged the net, only to fall in for winners. Karlovic did break Henman twice in the third set, though, and showed that his forehand and volleys are much improved from last year, when he still had to qualify for tournaments.


As Karlovic and Henman waged their 3 1 /2 -hour battle, unpredictable Russian Marat Safin bowed out meekly against Sweden’s Thomas Enqvist, whose career is on the comeback trail after injury troubles. Safin seemed to be regaining his form when he reached the finals at the Australian Open this year, but he has had poor results since. Asked yesterday why he seemed listless during yesterday’s 7-6 (5), 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 loss, Safin offered one of his trademark energetic replies.


“Whenever I show emotions, everybody is criticizing me and complaining, like,’Why you break so many rackets? Why you shout?’,” he said. “Whenever I try to be calm, I try to be concentrated, is not good enough. So tell me how I should be.”


Safin pummeled Pete Sampras to win the 2000 U.S. Open, a virtuoso performance that sealed his reputation as the most talented player on the tour, if not the most motivated or emotionally stable. Yesterday it was clear that he’s tired of those conversations.


“You’re really killing me,” he said. “Other people are also are very talented. Not one untalented player could be in a Top 10 or Top 20. Show me one untalented person.”


Juan Carlos Ferrero, last year’s U.S. Open finalist and formerly the world’s top-ranked player, is certainly talented, but he didn’t show much of it yesterday against Tomas Zib of the Czech Republic.


Ferrero beat Andre Agassi at his own game in last year’s semifinal, patiently executing his strokes rally after rally, prying loose small openings, and then firing winners. In his first two sets against Zib, though, Ferrero came out on the short end of most long exchanges. He missed passing shots, hit off-center backhands long, and looked uncomfortable against a player whose strokes are steady but pack little punch.


In the end, Ferrero settled for a 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(6), 6-7(4), 6-3 victory that hardly inspired confidence in his future these next two weeks. The match lasted 4 1 /2 hours, including a 51-minute fifth set. Ferrero, known for his precision, finished off the night with 67 errors.


The New York Sun

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