Planting his size 16 sneakers at net, Ivo Karlovic's sizable shadow seemed to swallow up sections of the court as he held set point against Roger Federer. The third-seeded Swiss had won 10 of 13 career tiebreakers against Karlovic, but when the towering, 6'10" Croatian stabbed a reflex volley that dribbled over the net in today's breaker, the first set seemed a foregone conclusion.
Not to Federer.
Streaking forward, Federer scraped a lob off the blue court. Leave it to Federer to play over Karlovic's head.
Lobbing Karlovic is as easy as leaping over a telephone pole, but Federer's looper forced the big man to shank a smash off the top of his frame. Two points later, Federer spun a slice service winner wide to snatch a set that nearly eluded him. Federer fired 55 winners to downsize the dangerous Karlovic, 7-6 (6), 7-5, 6-3, and reach the fourth round of the Australian Open.
A walkover win sent Federer into this match having last played on Monday. Karlovic is a tricky customer because his mammoth serve detonates points so quickly that opponents can't establish a rhythm with rallies. It's stop and start tennis, but the imposing image of Karlovic crashing the net can make even the most seasoned pro a little skittish.
Snapping off a forehand volley, Karlovic earned the first break point of the match at 1-all of the second set and waited on a second serve. But Federer, who had been successful slicing his serve wide on the ad side, crossed up the Croatian by sliding a serve down the T that the big man barely touched. Still on serve at 5-6, Karlovic fell victim to the Swiss' snazzy racquet work. Blunting a Karlovic blast, Federer blocked a backhand return winner down the line for set point. The big man erased it with a stinging serve, only to be stuck flat-footed at net as Federer buzzed a backhand pass cross court for a second set point. This time, Karlovic pushed a forehand volley past the baseline to conclude the 46-minute second set.
Anticipating the direction of Karlovic's serve, Federer stabbed a spinning backhand return down the line to break for 3-1 in the third, fending off a break point in the next game.
"I definitely got a bit fortunate [saving set point] and I started to play better as the match went on," Federer told Jim Courier afterward. "I don't want to say I got a read on his serve, but I got the percentages right as it went on."
Making quick work of Karlovic, Federer has taken the express route to his 31st consecutive Grand Slam round of 16 in playing just six sets so far. The four-time champion plans to tune in tonight to scout his next opponent, the winner of the clash between touch artists Alexandr Dolgopolov and Aussie teen Bernard Tomic.
"Honestly, I don't know who to put my money on [and] I won't anyway because we're not allowed to," Federer said. "I'd like to play an Australian here—it's always a pleasure."
—Richard Pagliaro
