Tennis

NEW YORK – Ivo Karlovic served his way into the US Open record books on Tuesday when he fired 61 aces in his 4-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (7/5), 7-5 win over Lu Yen-Hsun of Taiwan.

Karlovic, 37, beat the previous best of 49 aces for one match in New York served up by Richard Krajicek in his quarter-final loss to Yevgeny Kafelnikov in 1999.

"I knew there were a lot of aces because there was a period (in the second set) when almost every serve was an ace. I knew there was a lot but I didn’t know it was this many," said 6ft 11in (2.11m) Karlovic.

Karlovic had three times previously served more than 50 aces in a tournament – his previous best in a tour match was 55 against Lleyton Hewitt in 2009 at the French Open.

In the same year, he served 78 aces against the Czech Republic’s Radek Stepanek in a Davis Cup clash.

He has now served 11,277 aces in his career, 1000 more than second-placed Goran Ivanisevic.

"Of course this is my best shot. I have worked a lot on it. I’m proud of it," said Karlovic.

America’s John Isner holds the all-time Grand Slam record of 113 aces served during his famous 70-68 fifth-set victory over Nicolas Mahut in the first round of Wimbledon in 2010.

Karlovic’s achievement on Tuesday sparked an immediate Twitter reaction.

"Ivo Karlovic dude 61 WTF," tweeted Australian star Nick Kyrgios.

Karlovic replied, tongue in cheek: "Yeah got some shoulder issues!" -- AFP