Ivo Karlovic’s impressive dominance on serve revealed

Some incredible statistics revealed by Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers this week shows just how dominant Ivo Karlovic has been on serve. 

The 40-year-old Croatian already owns a number of impressive tennis records, including the all-time record for aces, serving over 13,500 in his career.

Karlovic has almost been unbreakable on serve on tour but analysis over the past five seasons reveals just how dominant he has been. 

The data set includes players who have played 50-plus matches during that period, so on average 10 matches per year and looks at players holding serve. 

Holding From 15/0

Karlovic has won an amazing 97.26%, or 1915 out of 1969 service games when he wins the opening point of the game. John Isner is next best with 96.83%

I. Karlovic = 97.26% (1915/1969)
J. Isner = 96.83% (2537/2620)
R. Opelka = 96.66% (636/658)

Holding From 30/0

Karlovic has lost only 11 games out of 1422 on serve after leading 30/0. This is a win ratio of an incredible 99.23% from 30/0 up on serve. 

I. Karlovic = 99.23% (1411/1422)
J. Isner = 98.93 (1844/1864)
M. Raonic = 98.76% (1518/1537)

Holding From 40/0

Karlovic has only lost one service game from 1,041 games in 185 matches after racing out to a 40/0 lead.

R. Opelka = 100% (310/310)
I. Karlovic = 99.90% (1040/1041)
J. Isner = 99.85% (1362/1364)

Holding From 15/40

Even when he is trailing it is difficult to break Karlovic’s serve. The Croatian is the only player in the past five seasons to have a winning record from 15/40 above 50%. 

I Karlovic = 50.94% (81/159)
J. Isner = 45.03% (86/191)
S. Wawrinka = 39.77% (138/347)

Holding From 0/40

Karlovic once again leads this stat and is the best-rated player to hold serve after losing the first three points of the game.

I. Karlovic = 33.90% (20/59)
R. Federer = 30.12% (25/83)
M. Raonic = 28.57% (22/77)

“Karlovic’s career-high ATP Ranking is No. 14, which he reached in August 2008. and he was ranked inside the Top 20 as recently as February 2017. The Croatian has made a career of winning one more point than his opponent. He finished the 2016 season ranked No. 20, went 34-24, and won $1.2 million. He won 4,612 points for the season. He lost 4,611,” ATP writes.