The indoor hard courts at the ATP 250 event in Zagreb are an ideal surface to showcase what Ivo Karlovic does best:  serve aces.  At a towering 6'10”, the Croatian giant pounded 44 of them past Daniel Brands in the type of match for which he has become famous.  The 44 aces equaled the all-time record for total aces by one player in a three-set match.

Their three-set battle lasted less than two hours despite a scoreline of 6-7(4) 7-5 7-6(3) that suggested an epic encounter.  A formidable server as well, Brands struck 15 aces of his own and held 17 of 18 service games.  But Karlovic prevailed by the narrowest of margins, as he often does, by winning a staggering 91% of his first-serve points and never facing a break point in the match.  Nearly half of his 93 total service points were aces, a daunting obstacle for an opponent to overcome mentally.  Playing at his home tournament may have emboldened Karlovic, as may have his upset over Tomas Berdych in January.  He won that Doha match in two tiebreaks without breaking his top-eight opponent's serve. 

Six years ago, Roger Federer waged a frustrating battle against the Croat in Cincinnati, never dropping his serve yet somehow losing in three sets.  These are the situations in which Karlovic's opponents can find themselves, at the mercy of a man who can serve his way out of trouble in the blink of an eye.  Brands is no Federer, despite defeating the Swiss star last year, but the two men now have something in common after Karlovic left both of them wondering what they did wrong. 

Nothing, really.  Like Federer in 2008, Brands simply ran into the Dr. Ace of the ATP on a day when no prescription could have produced a cure. 

(Photo Credit: PBZ Zagreb Indoors)