Karlovic dazzled by Federer magic
Roger Federer easily saw off the threat of Ivo Karlovic on Centre Court
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Wednesday, 01, Jul 2009 10:32
Ivo Karlovic donned sunglasses for most of his encounter with Roger Federer today but could not stop the Swiss star's game shining brightly as he crashed to a straight sets defeat.
The five-time Wimbledon champion should be satisfied with both the score, 6-3 7-5 7-6, and his performance as he advanced to his 21st consecutive Grand Slam semi-final.
Both players comfortably got through their first service games and it was 1-1 in the time it takes to complete a round of boxing.
But it was a different matter when the giant Croat served into the sun for the first time in the match. Expertly using the pace of the serve, Federer sent back some superb blocked returns to win two break points.
He only needed one, it had taken him only nine minutes to do what Karlovic's four previous victims had failed to do in nine hours of court time - break the most brutal serve on the tour.
The crucial break illustrated the poverty of Karlovic's returning game, was it embarrassment which made him don the sunglasses that made him look even more like a Bond villain?
By now the only glitch in the Federer game seemed to be some clumsy bouncing of the ball before serving - something that has been strangely noticeable throughout the tournament.
But he lost no points because of it and the first set was his, 6-3.
Karlovic seemed more comfortable serving first in the next set and was ahead for most of it despite never seriously threatening the number two seed's serve.
How could he, when Federer seems capable of serving down-the-middle aces in his sleep?
The new French Open champion left it until the eleventh game to secure the second set-clinching break which put the match firmly in his control. But it was worth the wait, some perfect passing shots taking care of business whenever he couldn't fire an outright service return winner.
Karlovic did at least manage to reach the tiebreak in the third set but Federer won it for the loss of just three points, leaving little doubt about which player boasts the greater variety of shots.
The tournament favourite has been shown a little favouritism by being allowed to play all his matches on Centre Court - Karlovic, in contrast, has been shunted all over the grounds during his Wimbledon campaign.
But on this sort of form few would argue that his play doesn't deserve to be showcased on the biggest grass court stage in the world.
Bet on him to be there when the curtain goes up on Sunday afternoon.
James Christie