When you are 6ft11in tall, a tennis player’s serve becomes a brutal weapon.
Ivo Karlovic once held the record for fastest ever serve at a staggering 156mph, so good luck to whoever was down the other end.
The former world no.14 enjoyed his most notable success at Wimbledon back in 2009 where he reached the quarter-final.
It was a match against Andy Murray in 2012 that he is perhaps best known for at the All England club, but for all the wrong reasons.
He was facing a home favourite who had been to the Wimbledon semi-finals for the previous three years, so the Croatian’s task was always going to be a difficult one.
However, issues with that serve arose during the match where he was called for a foot fault an astonishing 11 times.
Karlovic lost 7-5, 6-7, 6-2, 7-6 to the Brit, but went on a blistering rant at the Wimbledon line judges, calling into question their credibility.
When asked what was the difference between the two players, he replied: “Foot-faults. I don’t know what to say, but it was a little bit outrageous.
“In my whole life, ever since I was eight years old, (my) whole life I didn’t do this many foot-faults. It was like 11.
“It was never called when it was like 30-love or 40-love. It was always when it was 30-all or in a tiebreak. I mean, what is this? Is it Davis Cup or is it Wimbledon?
“After this match, the whole credibility of this tournament went down for me…
“After I don’t know how many, I stood a little bit back so they cannot call (foot-fault). They still did it. So it was outrageous, outrageous. It’s Wimbledon, Centre Court, and they do this.”
Murray went on to reach the final at Wimbledon in 2012GettyHe added: “You do the calculation. If these ten points, I win? Who would have win? You do the math.
“I feel cheated. On a Grand Slam (stage), Centre Court, I don’t know what to say.”
Karlovic was then asked point blank if he felt the officials were biased, and he replied: “Definitely.”
Andy Murray was magnanimous as ever and said it was an issue that could easily be resolved by television replays.
“(It is) impossible for me to say whether they were foot-faults or not,” he said.
“You can only look on the TV. And if he wasn’t foot-faulting then he has a right to be upset, because there was a lot of them. But if he was, then you can’t do it. It’s not allowed.
Karlovic felt cheated by the Wimbledon line judgesAFP“I can’t really comment on it unless I see it. I don’t know what they were saying on the TV. They must have had some pretty clear images of it.”
Karlovic would never go past the fourth round of Wimbledon again, but remarkably he only officially hung up his racket in 2024.
By then he was 45 years old and had not played for two-and-a-half years.
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