I think it's safe to say that for most Americans, the Australian Open is something of the lost Grand Slam of tennis. Played for the most part while most of America is snug in bed in the middle of Winter in the Northern Hemisphere, it's easy to forgive most folks for having the NFL Playoffs, the NBA and NCAA Basketball on their minds this time of year.
That's too bad, especially this year as the Australian Open features at least one quirky story that tennis fans ought to be paying attention to, at least outside of Serena Williams needing a course in remedial blogging. What I'm talking about is the interesting men's doubles pairing of 6-10 Ivo Karlovic and 6-9 John Isner.
As Joe Fleming of USA Today wrote yesterday:
Consider: With their wingspans - Karlovic about 7 feet, 2 1/2 inches and Isner 7-1 1/2 - plus an additional 27 inches of racket on either side, they can gobble up nearly two-thirds of the 36-foot width of the court. One big step covers the rest.That's the two of them pictured above with Justin Heinz, the shortest ball boy at the Open this year.
And both can bring 130- to 140-mph heat on their serves; Karlovic led the ATP Tour in aces in 2007 (1,318 total, 20.6 a match).
So what's it like to play against somebody like Isner or Karlovic? Last Summer at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic here in Washington, D.C., I heard Andy Roddick say that a serve off of Isner's racket arrived with the same force as if he were allowed to serve from about three feet inside the court.
It's safe to say it isn't exactly a day in the park. For another view, here's flustered Frenchman Gael Monfils, after he had faced Isner in the semifinals of the same tournament:
Gael Monfils Press Conference, Legg Mason Tennis Classic
Uploaded by emcerlain
That's right, he said that at that point, the only player on tour with a better serve than Isner might have been Karlovic.
So what might it be like when you take two of the best serves in all of tennis and put them together? We'll find out today when the pair take to the court for their first match between with Juan Pablo Brezicki and Augustin Calleri sometime after Midnight on the East Coast.
As for life off the doubles court, Isner made an early exit from the singles side of the draw dropping a match in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 to Fabrice Santoro of France. Karlovic fared better, advancing to the second round after a four set win, 6-4, 6-4, 6-7(1-7), 6-4 over Jamie Baker of Great Britain.
