Croatian tennis veteran Ivo Karlović enters history books

3 January 2019 – Croatian Ivo Karlović has entered the tennis history books once again.

Karlović, who turns 40 next month, beat Latvian Ernests Gulbis 7-6-7-6 today in the quarterfinal at the Maharashtra Open in Pune, India to become the oldest ATP semi-finalist since Jimmy Connors in San Francisco in 1993. 

Earlier this week, Karlović added futher milestones to his career when he became the oldest player on the ATP ranking list and also the third-oldest year-end top-100 player in the Open era behind Ken Rosewall and Jimmy Connors. 

He officially held the record for the fastest serve recorded in professional tennis, measured at 251 km/h (156 mph), before being surpassed by Samuel Groth in 2012. He also holds the all-time record for career aces and is one of only four players in history to surpass 10,000 aces.

The 211 cm veteran has won eight ATP singles as is one of the tallest professional tennis players in history.