Sunday 27 November 2016

Davis Cup Rubber 2 Review: Ivo Karlovic vs Juan Martin del Potro

Croatia enters this tie with a 1-0 lead after Cilic came through in 5 sets against Federico Delbonis. Del Potro, who has came back from an injury early this year, has rose to the Top 100 in the rankings from No.1042 in February. Del Potro would be the favourite coming into this 2nd rubber, having a 5-1 head to head record against Ivo Karlovic.

Both players pose for a picture during the draw ceremony. Photo by La Nacion

1st Set: Del Potro makes perfect start

Del Potro made the perfect start to the match, breaking Karlovic’s serve immediately in the first game with some great returns. Both players had no more break points for the rest of the set, and therefore Del Potro won the set 6-4. This first set saw both players winning most of their first service points, with Karlovic winning 100% of them and Del Potro winning 94% of them. The first game in which Del Potro broke saw Karlovic only hitting 20% of first serves in, which Del Potro took advantage on.

2nd Set: Karlovic fights back; saves set points

The 2nd set was much closer, and Del Potro once again had the chance to break Karlovic’s serve in the first game of the set. However, this time, Karlovic managed to fend off those break point opportunities. Once again, after the first game of the set, there were no more break point opportunities for both players. The set then went to a tiebreak, and Karlovic came from 5-2 down to win the second set and keep the score level at one set all, after saving 2 set points in the process. Karlovic’s first serve percentage increased drastically from 54% to 71%, and he won 90% of first serve points and only lost 2 points off his second serves. Del Potro won 86% of first serve points and also lost only 2 points off his second serves.

3rd Set: Del Potro continues to stroll

The third set started off with 7 straight holds of service, until Del Potro once again drew first blood by breaking Karlovic’s serve to lead 5-3, and just be a game away from winning the set. The Argentinian then successfully served out the set 6-3, and put himself in a great position to level the tie for Argentina. The 4 service points that Karlovic lost in the whole set was in the game that he was broken, and he held his serve to love in all of his other service games.


4th Set: Del Potro closes out the match

Both players held their serves for consecutive times at the start of the 4th set, but Karlovic had some troubles holding his serve with Del Potro producing very good returns. It was until 5-5 when we had the first break of serve, after Del Potro hit an excellent return winner of a 208km/h serve by Karlovic to have the opportunity to serve for the set and the match. 
Del Potro serving in the Davis Cup final. Photo by Reuters



Del Potro's thoughts on the match:

I think Ivo played very good tennis in those moments and of course I was nervous after I lost the second set but in the end I had to take the longer road to victory. The atmosphere was fantastic, our fans were great but Croatian fans were brilliant too and showed us a lot of respect. It was an exhausting match but I think I will be okay for the rest of the weekend. (Adapted from official Davis Cup website)

Karlovic's thoughts after his loss:

“I am not overly exhausted because there weren’t too many long rallies. I don’t think I was on top of my game and with a rest day for me tomorrow, I am ready to play the decisive fifth rubber if necessary." (Adapted from official Davis Cup website)

Highlights from YouTube: