DELRAY BEACH, Fla. (AP)—Second-seeded Ivo Karlovic of Croatia blasted 26 aces past Germany’s Daniel Brands in a 7-6 (8), 7-6 (6) victory in the second round of the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships on Thursday.
Karlovic ended the match against the 100th-ranked Brands with an untouchable ace sliced out wide.
On a Florida day that was atypically cold (temperatures dropped into the 50s at night), and typically windy, Karlovic never faced a break point on serve. Brands escaped the one break point opportunity he offered Karlovic in the 10th game of the first set.
“It was a close match, but I feel that on his serve I had more opportunities than him,” Karlovic said. “In the tiebreakers I was a little bit more with concentration so I won.”
Karlovic’s 26 aces came up six short of the open era record of 32 in a two-set match he set last week at the Memphis tournament.
Karlovic will face seventh-seeded James Blake in the quarterfinals.
Blake, a two-time Delray Beach finalist, earned his spot in the quarterfinal with a a 6-3, 6-1 win over Robin Haase of the Netherlands.
Third-seeded Benjamin Becker of Germany received a walkover against American Wayne Odesnik, who sprained his right ankle during his first-round match.
Becker will face unseeded Jarko Nieminen in the quarterfinals. The Finn was a 5-7, 6-1, 6-0 win over last year’s finalist, Evgeny Korolev of Russia.
Fourth-seeded Frenchman Jeremy Chardy also progressed to the last eight with a 7-5, 4-6, 7-5 win over Santiago Giraldo of Colombia.
In a reprise of last year’s semifinal, Chardy will take on defending champion Mardy Fish, who secured a quarterfinal berth by outlasting Mischa Zverev of Germany 6-2, 6-4.
The 73rd-ranked Fish, who recently dropped 12 kilograms (26 pounds), lost his serve twice in the second set. But he recouped both breaks immediately and then from 4-4, won the final two games.
“When it mattered, I got a few points when I needed to,” Fish said. “I got it my own way there in the second after a couple of breaks of serve. I got them back right away, so he wasn’t able to gain momentum at all in the second set.
“It was kind of ugly tennis at some points, but I don’t care. I’ll take it.”
Ernests Gulbis of Latvia also moved into the quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Teimuraz Gabashvili of Russia, who knocked out top seed Tommy Haas in the first round.
The 72nd-ranked Gulbis, 21, has played in 61 ATP tournaments and his best results have been reaching two semifinals. He reached the semifinals at the Memphis tournament last week, losing to American Sam Querrey.
“Of course, I want to win a tournament,” Gulbis said. “I feel more confident now, more than ever.”
Gulbis will play Leonardo Mayer of Argentina in the quarterfinals on Friday.