On Tuesday, Ivo Karlovic of Croatia beat Feliciano Lopez of Spain to become the oldest man to win a match at the French Open since 1973. He is also the oldest to win a Grand Slam match since 1978.
Karlovic, the world number 94, won 7-6(4) 7-5 6-7(7) 7-5 in a first-round duel with Lopez (who ranks at number 108). Speaking to reporters after the match, he said: "It means a lot. Even though it's in the record books as the oldest one, at least it's in the record books, so I like it." The 6 foot 11 inch tall right-hander served 35 aces and is set to face Australian Jordan Youngster in a second-round match.
This was Karlovic’s 12th match against the Spaniard, and the first to be played on clay. The Croatian enjoys a 7-4 lead in the FedEx ATP Head2Head tally of the two player’s 15-year-history.
In it, he hit 35 aces, saved five out of six breakpoints, and scored 65 points overall.
The previous record-holder for oldest player to win at the French Open was Torben Ulrich (44) in 1973. In Grand Slam history, it was Ken Rosewall (43) who made it to the third round at the 1978 Australian Open.
The combined age of Karlovic’s match with Lopez (37) is 77 —the oldest ever in a French Open since the Professional Era began in 1968. The oldest combined ages in Grand Slam history, however, is 81 — from a 1969 US Open match between Pancho Gonzalez (41) and Toorben Ulrich (40).
The record for women is held by Elizabeth Ryan, who was 42 when she won the 1934 women's doubles with Simone Mathieu.
Of the match and his record, Karlovic said, "Right now I'm just happy with any match that I win… Even if it's against older guys or kids, whatever. I just like to win."
