WASHINGTON (AP) — Ivo Karlovic's big serve carried him to a second consecutive final at age 37, earning a 6-4, 6-4 victory over fifth-seeded American Steve Johnson at the Citi Open on Saturday.
The 6-foot-11 Karlovic, a Croatian seeded 13th at the hard-court tournament, saved all five break points he faced in the semifinals. He has won all 43 of his service games this week.
"This is my game. This is my strength," Karlovic said in an on-court interview. "I will never run like he does."
He broke Johnson in the third game of each set.
Karlovic will face No. 2-seeded Gael Monfils of France or No. 7 Alexander Zverev of Germany in Sunday's final.
Last week, at the grass-court tournament in Newport, Rhode Island, Karlovic became the oldest man since 1979 to win an ATP singles title.
"I believe it's (because of) hard work and also because I didn't begin very young," who was 21 when he turned pro. "I'm not as used up as my age would suggest."
This has been something of a resurgence for the man whose biggest victory was a first-round upset of defending champion Lleyton Hewitt at Wimbledon in 2003. Since losing his first six matches of 2016, Karlovic has gone 16-7.
Much of his success is based on his serve, which comes at opponents from way up high and gets quite a bounce on Washington's hard courts, especially in the July heat.
In the 25 years that ATP service stats cover, Karlovic leads the tour with more than 11,000 career aces and by winning 92 percent of his service games. He began Saturday averaging 22 aces per match at the Citi Open and finished the semifinal with 14, including a pair on the last two points at 134 mph and 132 mph.
Johnson serves well, too, and he came into the semifinal having held in all 32 of his service games in the tournament, saving 7 of 7 break points.
Those streaks did not last long against Karlovic, who isn't necessarily known for his prowess as a returner.
In only Johnson's second service game, less than 15 minutes into the match, he missed a shot at deuce to hand over a break point and angrily smacked a ball into the stands. Then, with both men at the net, Karlovic lunged for a backhand volley winner to go up 2-1.
A game earlier, Karlovic's first on serve, represented perhaps Johnson's best chance to steal a break.
Struggling to see the ball on his toss because of a bright sun that brought the temperature near 100 degrees, Karlovic double-faulted three times, helping create two break points. But Karlovic erased the first with a 130 mph service winner, then came up with this sequence after the second: 130 mph ace, 128 mph service winner, 109 mph service winner.
Similarly, in the second set, Karlovic broke right after saving a break point created by a double-fault. This time, Karlovic went up 2-1 by delivering a cross-court forehand return winner, followed by a down-the-line backhand return winner.
When Johnson held a pair of break points at 15-40 in the next game, Karlovic responded by hitting three consecutive aces, then a service winner to hold for 3-1. And he was on his way.
