Johnson, ranked a career-best 25th, sent a backhand wide to squader a break point in the second game of the second set and in the next game, Karlovic rocketed a service return forehand victor past Johnson and then dropped a slice backhand victor on the line to break for a 2-1 lead. Karlovic won 14 of 15 (93%) first serve points and 8 of 13 (62%) second serves during the thirty-seven minute opening frame.
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Karlovic, 37, saw off Gilles Muller to claim the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships last week, in doing so becoming the oldest victor on the ATP World Tour since Marty Riessen in 1979. “Today I didn’t. I’m disappointed a lot”.
He broke Johnson in the third game of each set, right after saving break points on his own serve.
When Johnson held a pair of break points at 15-40 in the next game, Karlovic responded by hitting three consecutive aces, then a service victor to hold for 3-1.
The Frenchman needed just an hour to defeat the up-and-coming German, dropping just three points on his serve in the second set.
Ivo Karlovic will play Steve Johnson in the semi-finals of the ATP Citi Open in Washington.
Haase took a 3-0 lead in the second set before Lopez rallied to win the next three games and went on to finish off the match.
And he had the opportunity to become one of the oldest men ever to win consecutive ATP titles with a victory on the outdoor hard courts of the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center. Karlovic saved both break point attempts coming from his American opponent.
“I was serving better in the first two sets”, Karlovic said.
Karlovic’s first service game began with a double fault. The Croatian added 6 aces to 4 to pull ahead of Johnson in terms of the service category.
Johnson failed to convert his five break points as Karlovic advanced to his 16th ATP final. Karlovic got the only breaker of the frame, breaking once out of four break point tries.
“You’re never too tall to lob”, the fifth-seeded Johnson said about the point that came with Isner ahead 5-3 in the first tiebreaker.
“It’s definitely frustrating when you have chances, you don’t take ’em, and you lose your focus for a second and you lose serve”, said Johnson, a 26-year-old from California who eliminated top-seeded John Isner in the quarterfinals. “This is my strength”, Karlovic said of his serve.
Karlovic’s intimidating serve can take over a match, especially on speedy surfaces such as grass or hard courts. Davis holds a 3-0 career advantage, including two victories that came in 2016.
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Sunday’s first event will be the Men’s Doubles Final between the team of Lukasz Kubot (Poland) and Alexander Peya (Austria) against Daniel Nestor (Canada) and Edouard Roger-Vasselin (France). He earned a championship point with a backhand passing shot down the line, his seventh backhand victor of the match that elicited some of the loudest cheers of the day.
