Big-serving Croatian Ivo Karlovic fired 21 aces en route to eliminating world number one Novak Djokovic in the Qatar Open quarter-finals.
Karlovic came through 6-7(2) 7-6(6) 6-4 in two hours and 15 minutes amid blustery conditions in Doha.
“He served very well,” Djokovic said. “But you could expect that. I was coming into the match knowing that I will have very, very few chances.
“But I was hoping that these conditions and the wind will kind of give me some second-serve opportunities.”
The Serbian grew increasingly irate as his rival’s serve continued to fly past his racquet, and that frustration only buoyed the Croatian further.
“I looked at him when he threw the racket and when he smashed the ball, so I knew that he was a little bit frustrated,” Karlovic said. “So I was just trying to stay calm.”
Karlovic will face David Ferrer in the last four, after the Spaniard beat Dustin Brown 6-2 6-2.
Results from the Qatar Open Men’s Singles Quarter-final matches on Thursday
Andreas Seppi (Italy) beat Ivan Dodig (Croatia) 7-5 6-4
3-Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) beat 6-Richard Gasquet (France) 6-2 6-1
7-Ivo Karlovic (Croatia) beat 1-Novak Djokovic (Serbia) 6-7(2) 7-6(6) 6-4
4-David Ferrer (Spain) beat Dustin Brown (Germany) 6-2 6-2
