It was age against beauty in this Rogers Cup first round clash. Ivo Karlovic, at age 37, faced off against a player 19 years his junior in Taylor Fritz. After two hours and 13 minutes of action, age won out as Karlovic emerged victorious, 6-7(9), 7-6(5), 6-2. The Croat did not seem too worn out after making it to the finals in his past two tournaments, and his serving was as dominant as ever.
Fritz takes first set in tiebreak
Powered by his groundstrokes, Fritz began the match with a hold at 30. As for his opponent, Karlovic kicked off his campaign in Toronto with a big ace; he held at 15--winning all four of his service points on unreturned serves. A hold from each player in the next two games brought the score to 2-2. After five games of easy holds, both strategies were apparent; both players were relying on their power but from different sources. Fritz was lead by his forehand; Karlovic, his serve.
However, the Croat looked significantly more equipped to handle his opponent’s big guns. At 6’11”, the world number 27 is hard to pass, so Fritz’s groundstrokes needed to be on target for him to have a chance. Meanwhile, Karlovic’s serve—that can reach up to 150 mph—is tough for anyone at any height to get to, let alone, return in play. That was evident in Fritz winning just one point in his first four returns of serve.
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The two competitors remained on serve without as much as a break point through nine games. The young American finally got his second return point on a Karlovic double fault, but the 37-year-old still held rather easily at 15. Eleven games in, the match finally saw its first deuce, but a forehand wide and backhand return long from Karlovic ended the game, once again, without a break or break point.
In the twelfth game, Fritz saw the first break point and set point of the match after coming back from 40-15 to his advantage on two low volleys into a net and a backhand pass on the forehand side; that break point was saved unsurprisingly by an ace from the big man. After five deuces and over seven minutes, the Croat sent the set to a tiebreak with a pair of aces.
Fritz began the tiebreak by giving his opponent a taste of his own medicine—with his first ace of the match. The second point saw Karlovic double fault before getting an ace of his own; then, the American youngster double-faulted, so the first four points weren't even touched by the returner. Finally, a forehand crosscourt pass by Fritz changed that. At 5-5, Karlovic hit a forehand winner of his own to see his first set point; two unreturned serves saved the set and gave the American a chance to finish it. The back-and-forth contest continued until, at 10-9, Karlovic drove a forehand long on Fritz’s fourth set point.
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With 55 minutes of play and one set behind him, the world number 27 had lashed out 26 winners and allowed just one point to go past nine shots, but 13 unforced errors came along with that aggressiveness. On the other side, Fritz made just three unforced errors—taking the set with him.
Lightning doesn't strike twice for Fritz
Karlovic started off the set without much slippage—taking a 1-0 lead on a hold at 15. Unfazed, Fritz responded with a love hold to make the set score 1-1. Taking the first two points on his next return, the 18-year-old extended his run to six straight points. Karlovic, despite leveling the score at 30-30, carried a forehand wide to open the door for a break. However, an unreturned serve closed that door, and he quickly won two more points to hold for 2-1. The set proceeded without much turbulence. Neither returner won more than two points on return through the next six game. However, at 5-4, Karlovic found a ticket to the third set. He volleyed his way to 15-40 with double break/set points. Fritz bounced back to hold after two deuces.
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Quickly figuring out how and when to use the lob, the young American looked like he might have found a cure to the punishing serve-volley technique he was facing. Nonetheless, the lob was only useful when he was able to return serves. The Croat aced his way to another hold to take a 6-5 lead in the set. At 30-30 in the twelfth game, the seasoned veteran whipped a perfect return to the corner to set up another set point. One more time, Fritz showed off his skills as an escape artist—hitting a forehand winner to get to deuce. Another forehand winner followed by an ace held serve again for the American, and the second set also went to a tiebreak.
The tiebreak opened up with a mini-break from Fritz on a forehand error by Karlovic; the Croat got it right back with a perfectly placed forehand return down the line. Struggling with some left knee troubles, the young American double-faulted to gift two set points at 6-4. One was saved, but the other was driven long, and Karlovic took the tiebreak, 7-5.
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Karlovic finishes battered Fritz
After using a medical timeout to get treatment on his knee, Fritz faced some break points early. Down 15-40, two break points stood in his way; one was saved on a shot driven long by Karlovic, but a shot long of his own doomed the American. Karlovic held at love in the next service game—taking a 2-0 lead with him. Holding at 15 would get Fritz on the board in the third set, but he still had a long road and a big server in front of him. At 3-1 with the advantage, Karlovic whipped a forehand down the line to increase his lead to two breaks.
It took the 37-year-old just 57 seconds to hold at love, and he was just one game away from the second round at 5-1. To that point, Fritz hadn't won a single point on Karlovic’s serve in the set. The young gun held one last time, but he didn't have enough to survive much longer; his opponent capped off the match with a hold at 15, while giving up just one point on serve in the third set.
It’s a shame that Fritz couldn't avoid injury because the third set could have been a lot closer. However, the match was still a very eventful clash between young and old. Karlovic, after unleashing 70 winners and 29 aces today, will advance to play Marin Cilic in the second round.