Ivo Karlovic, the towering Croatian recognized for his booming serve, has introduced his retirement from tennis greater than two years after taking part in his final match match.
The 6-foot, 11-inch Karlovic mentioned in a put up Wednesday on X, previously Twitter, that “I’ve had a really gratifying, unorthodox and lengthy profession coming from extraordinarily humble beginnings, particularly for a tennis participant.”
Karlovic, who will flip 45 subsequent week, performed his final ATP match in a second-round qualifying loss at Indian Wells, California, in October 2021. His final Grand Slam match match was a first-round singles loss on the US Open about six weeks earlier.
“A few of you might have seen that it has been some time since I performed a match and nonetheless ask me every day if and after I’ll be returning to the tour,” Karlovic wrote. “I am sorry to disappoint, however with this letter, I need to make it official and eventually announce my retirement.”
Karlovic first made a reputation for himself in 2003 after coming by way of qualifying at Wimbledon and defeating defending champion Lleyton Hewitt within the first spherical on the All England Membership. It was Karlovic’s first Grand Slam match match, and the outcome made Hewitt the primary defending Wimbledon champion to lose within the first spherical because the begin of the Open period in 1968.
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Karlovic completed his 25-year profession with eight singles titles and a report of 371 wins, 346 losses and $10.1 million in prize cash. His highest singles rating was at No. 14 in August 2008.
His greatest Grand Slam singles efficiency was at Wimbledon in 2009, when he superior to the quarterfinals. He additionally gained the Davis Cup in 2005 with Croatia when it beat Slovakia within the ultimate for the nation’s first title.
Karlovic’s final tour win got here within the first spherical of the Corridor of Fame Open in 2021 at age 42. He was already the oldest participant to win an ATP Tour match since Jimmy Connors in 1995.
He completed his profession with 13,728 aces, second behind John Isner with 14,470. Karlovic has essentially the most aces in a best-of-three-set match with 45 at Halle in 2015, and two weeks later at Wimbledon he grew to become the one participant to hit not less than 40 aces in three consecutive matches.
Six-time Grand Slam singles champion Boris Becker was amongst these to congratulate Karlovic on X, calling his serve “the most effective in tennis.”
