Ivo Karlović (born 28 February, 1979 in Zagreb) is a Croatian tennis player. At 208 cm (6 ft 10 in) tall, Karlović is the tallest player ever to play in an ATP event and is known as one of the best servers on the tour. His best ATP singles ranking to date is world #19, which he attained in March 2008. He is currently ranked 19th as of March 3, 2008.
Taking advantage of his height, Karlović is heavily reliant on his serve. With a more acute angle from his racquet to the service line, his first serves have a higher chance of coming in, thereby rendering many of them unhittable, let alone returnable. With bad returns from his opponents, he normally just has to put the ball away for a winner without the need of a proper volley. Some critics say he will not make his mark being a serve-only player, but he proved them wrong by beating top players like Lleyton Hewitt, Andy Roddick, Fernando González and James Blake, among others. He also nearly defeated #1 Roger Federer in a match that ended in a tiebreak in the final set.
Nicknamed Dr. Ivo, Karlović has now won three singles titles, all in 2007, and one doubles title in 2006.
