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2/19/10 6:32 AM | Ricky Dimon
John Isner, 6'9'', and Ivo Karlovic, 6'10'', will square off in a big-serving quarterfinal showdown on Friday afternoon in Memphis. Tomas Berdych and Ernests Gulbis are also looking for a spot in the semifinals.
(6) John Isner vs. Ivo Karlovic
This is not exactly Roger Federer vs. Rafael Nadal, but Isner-Karlovic is a highly-anticipated pairing that fuels plenty of pre-match speculation. Will there be any service breaks? Any break points? How many aces? Those questions will be answered on Friday afternoon when the two big men do battle in the quarterfinals of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships. Isner and Karlovic have actually faced each other once before, with Karlovic prevailing 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-4 at the 2008 Pilot Pen tournament on the hard courts of New Haven.
Two years ago, however, Isner was a shadow of his current self. The 6'9'' American has now reached the fourth round of two straight Grand Slams, he captured his first ATP title last month in Auckland, and he comes in at a career-high ranking of No. 25 in the world. So far in Memphis he has dismissed Ryan Harrison and Jarkko Nieminen, the latter in three tight sets. Karlovic is also in fine form following a disappointing 2009 campaign. The 6'10'' Croat made it to round four in Melbourne before losing to Nadal and this week he has ousted both Benjamin Becker and Xavier Malisse in straight sets.
Neither Isner nor Karlovic has dropped serve this week, and it would almost be a disappointment if this match did not feature a trio of tiebreakers. Because Isner has a slight edge in that department, look for the No. 6 seed to survive in a third-set 'breaker.
Ernests Gulbis vs. (5) Tomas Berdych
Berdych and Gulbis have also met on one previous occasion; Berdych advanced to the third round of last summer's Legg Mason Classic with a 6-2, 7-6(6) triumph. Gulbis, however, was positively awful throughout the entirety of 2009. Under new coach Hernan Gumy, the 21-year-old Latvian is starting to show signs of a new life this season. He reached the quarterfinals in Doha (lost to Roger Federer) and he has bounced back nicely from two first-round losses by taking out Robert Kendrick and Radek Stepanek in Memphis.
Like Gulbis, Berdych is remarkably inconsistent despite incredible talent. The 24-year-old Czech has once again been up and down in 2010 and he registers 14 spots off his career-high ranking at No. 23 in the world. Berdych suffered early-round exits in Sydney and Melbourne, but he appeared in the Brisbane semis and the San Jose quarters (lost to Andy Roddick in two tiebreakers last week). He is through to the quarterfinals this week thanks to victories of Americans Ryan Sweeting and Michael Russell. This could go either way since it's impossible to know to expect from either man on any given day, but Berdych has more experience in the latter stages of tournaments so the No. 5 seed should pull out a close one.
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My guess is 52 aces.
Bonker , 2/19/10 9:34 AM
I would say a minimum if 100 aces.
carrie , 2/19/10 10:57 AM
um, I would say 45 aces
tj600 , 2/19/10 1:21 PM
45 aces.
if gulbis wants to win , he will. if he's bored, he loses. great match really in doha; erensts took a set off federer - federer was so irritated that he drop-kicked the tennis ball, lol. ernie appears to like playing the higher profile, higher ranked players. but against berdych, guessing ernie might be tempted to just lose and get it
over. hehehhee. impossible to know. but....
GO GULBIS!! c'mon, YES YOU CAN!!
zoey234 , 2/19/10 1:44 PM
excuse me tj600. i just guessed that one thinking karlovic over 20 and isner on a hard day under, slightly under 15.
okay- 46 aces
zoey234 , 2/19/10 1:49 PM
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predict total # of combined aces in the Isner-Karlovic match. Winner gets to be a guest handicapper during Indian Wells.
I'll say 47.
RickyDimon , 2/19/10 8:02 AM