Karlovic 137 holes in the ground

How many fans, you wondered, thought that here was the man to put a quarterfinal finish to Roger Federer's drive toward a 15th Grand Slam title and further ease the way for local hero Andy Murray to become the first British citizen to win Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936

How many, you might further wonder, have any idea what Federer has done to Karlovic over the years.

Yes, Ivo's serving is prodigious. He hasn't been broken now in 128 consecutive games and today's victim, No. 7 seed Fernando Verdasco, never got a sniff at a break. But, while Karlovic is no longer a one-trick pony, he does not have the full dossier of strokes needed to win a major, and that's been validated in his nine matches with Federer, whom he will play on Wednesday for a spot in the final four.

He doesn't have a first-class service return and, though he has one of the few good backhand slices left in the game, he doesn't come over his backhand well, and that makes it a liability.

How much of a liability?

He trails Federer 8-1 head-to-head, hasn't broken Federer's serve in their last four matches and has only one break and just 16 break-point opportunities in their nine meetings.

It probably seems like an anomaly to some that Ivo could have the best serve in tennis, and there is no question in my mind that he does, and yet have such a mediocre record in tiebreaks. All you have to do is think about it a bit and you'll figure out why.

To hold serve is a lot easier than dominating with your serve in a tiebreak -- especially if your return of serve is lacking, and that's where Karlovic falls down badly. An opponent needs to get no less than four points to bust a serve. In a tiebreak, Ivo can win four of his five serves and, if he doesn't win a point off his opponent's serve, he's going down.

Which is why he's only 1-11 vs. Federer in tiebreaks -- 12 tiebreaks in 24 sets vs. Federer. He can serve his way into the tiebreak, but he can't hold on once he gets there.

It's not only Federer who handles Karlovic in tiebreaks. He was only 8-10 for the season coming to Wimbledon and, after defeating Verdasco 7-6 (5), 6-7 (4), 6-3, 7-6 (8), he's 13-12 for 2009. Certainly grass gives him a bit more of an edge, but even there he's not been overwhelming.

All that said, let's now toast Karlovic, who is a lot less ominous off the court than on. Born in Zagreb, Croatia, he lives in Aventura, Fl., just north of Miami Beach with his 5-foot-2 inch Jamaican wife, Alsi, and he's one of the most approachable players on the ATP Tour if you just make the effort.

Most reporters have a problem seeking him out for interviews because of his long-standing stuttering problem. The fact is, however, that he's not self-conscious about it and if you just sit patiently with him and give him all the time he needs, he'll tell you what you need to know and he'll even make you laugh.

The serve, naturally, is his signature. "He hits it out of a tree," Andy Roddick once said. It looks a big sneaky at first because he hits it while the toss is ascending and not only does he average 130 mph on his first, but 114 mph on his second. Compare with Roddick: 115 and 90.

Aces No. 34 and 35 Monday came on set points in the fourth-set tiebreak, but equally impressive was Karlovic's tactical move on the first of the three sets points in that tiebreak. This is a 29-year-old veteran with a lot of experience.

With Verdasco serving into the ad court at 6-5 and in great position to level the match at two sets apiece, Karlovic correctly guessed that Fernando would once again go to the deep backhand corner. Karlovic stepped to his left, beyond the doubles sideline, got the ball he wanted and snapped a forehand inside-out return that forced a Verdasco error.

On match point, with Verdasco again serving into the ad court, maybe Ivo had gotten into his head, because Verdasco sent his first serve down the middle, perhaps hoping Ivo would be against on the move to cover the deep backhand corner. But he wasn't cheating left this time and easily returned. Verdasco's forehand went long and Karlovic was into his first Grand Slam quarterfinal, against Federer.

Are you going to spend Tuesday working on service returns? a reporter asked Federer. Not really, he replied, as if 6-foot-10 hitting partners were readily available to hit serves at him with the same accuracy as Karlovic.

The more important question in this quarterfinal should be directed at Karlovic. What are you going to do about getting some service breaks?

*

From my notebook:

* The first rain of the tournament came at 11:36 a.m. (ET) and 4:36 p.m. in London. It took long enough. And they were southwest U.S. type rains with the temperature well above 80 on a very muggy day.

* Does Ana Ivanovic need a complete physical workup? Her thigh injury, which came abruptly in the second set vs. Venus, was a total surprise. She had had no tightness in previous matches, nothing of consequence. This on top of her wrist injuries. And she's only 21 years old.

* Tommy Haas isn't going to win Wimbledon. Not at 31. But if he did. . .Well, he would be the first 30-something to win the men's tournament since Arthur Ashe at 30 in 1975.

* Nice tournament for American Melanie Oudin (please pronounce "oooo-DAN"), who was clocked by Agnieszka Radwanska. She will move from No. 124 to around No. 80 when the new rankings come out Monday. She's only 17 and she's on her way to a fine pro career, but she absolutely must do something about cranking up a serve -- especially a second serve. She's only 5-foot-6, but it can be done. Her childhood idol, Justine Henin, worked her way up to consistently serve over 100 mph. So can Oudin.

* Venus Williams is on track to win her fourth Wimbledon in five years. That leg injury doesn't appear to be any problem at all and she's averaging only one hour and 10 minute of court time for four singles matches, though she's playing dubs with her sister.

* With a ranking of 41, Sabine Lisicki is easily the surprise quarterfinalist on the women's side, and she's using what I'd call one of the top-5 serves on the WTA Tour to knock off No. 5 Svetlana Kuznetsova, No. 11 Caroline Wozniacki this afternoon and next gets No. 1 Dinara Safina.

See you tomorrow.

Charles Bricker can be reached at bricker@tennisnews.com

Charles Bricker