Mana Games

[Togtdyalttai]

Portugal F2

We’re in qualies yet again: Ivo’s ranking is still only 852. This time we’ve got yet another defender with nothing to speak of but groundies in the 30s, Mario Rincon (COL). We’ll have to wait to see who’s able to give Ivo trouble here, but it’s not gonna be Rincon.

Ivo Karlovic (CRO) def. Mario Rincon (COL) 6-2 6-1

Rincon had stretches near the end of each set where he played well, but for the most part it was all Ivo. Rincon wasn’t able to get it past Ivo, even from the baseline.

Next up is Egor Puntus (BLR), a defender who’s even worse than the aforementioned 30-groundie droves. This guy has groundies in the 20s, although his speed and stamina are a little bit better than some. Oh well, he’s no threat to Ivo.

Ivo Karlovic (CRO) def. Egor Puntus (BLR) 6-1 6-1

Puntus never had a shot. Ivo was absolutely dominant on serve, and a few errors on the return games were the only reason why it wasn’t a double bagel.
Ivo now faces yet another defender, Carlos Salamanca (COL). Salamanca has a forehand in the 50s and a backhand in the 40s, so he should be a little more difficult. Ivo should still have the upper hand though.

Ivo Karlovic (CRO) def. Carlos Salamanca (COL) 6-0 6-4

The first set went by in a flash, but the second was more difficult. Strangely enough, Ivo had a lot of success defending from the back of the court and waiting for an opportunity to come in. Qualifying just doesn’t seem to be much of a problem anymore. It’s what Ivo does in the main draw that matters.

Well, we’ve drawn the first seed in the first round, Thomas Schiessling (AUT). Schiessling’s yet another defender that’s only a little bit better than Salamanca in every aspect of his game. This should be a good matchup for Ivo, but I fear a repeat of what happened with Hui last week.

Ivo Karlovic(CRO) def. Thomas Schiessling (AUT) 6-4 7-6(4)

This was a very good match. Ivo had some problems getting into it at first and lost his first two service games. But then he came back and broke Schiessling 3 out of 4 service games to take the set. The second was like one of the real Ivo’s matches. There were a couple chances to break, but no one took them. In the tiebreak, there was only one minibreak, which went Ivo’s way. Schiessling proved to be a tough customer, but not too tough for the big man.

Next up is Robert Farah, yet another Colombian defender, the third one this tournament! Has JHON-DIM taken over world tour or what? This guy’s a member of the 30s groundies droves. And yet, he served a double bagel in his first round match. Something doesn’t add up, but I’ll still take Ivo in the end.

Ivo Karlovic (CRO) def. Robert Farah (COL) 6-4 6-4

Farah never let Ivo out of his sights, but he couldn’t ever pull ahead. In both sets, Ivo broke Farah in the first game of the set. In the first set, he held 5 times to close it out, but in the second, he was broken right back. However, Ivo went ahead again in the second at 2-2, and he never looked back after that. Farah hit a lot of amazing passing shots, and so it was hard to get into a rhythm.

Finally, someone other than a defender! In the quarters, Ivo’s meeting a fellow qualifier and fellow volleyer, Marc Kimmich (AUS). Kimmich has virtually every stat in the 30s, which probably isn’t the best thing for someone with his style. I think Ivo will get through this one easier than the last couple matches.

Ivo Karlovic (CRO) def. Marc Kimmich (AUS) 6-0 6-1

Ivo was on top of Kimmich’s every move. He won points from the net and the baseline. This is the fewest number of games Ivo’s lost in any match so far. Needless to say, it was an easy match.

In the semis we’re up against another volleyer. But Igor Kornienko (RUS) should actually be good at volleying, as his net skills are in the 60s and his serve’s in the 40s. Kornienko’s also a lefty, which hasn’t meant good things for the big man in the past. Still, I have to like Ivo’s chances.

Ivo Karlovic (CRO) def. Igor Kornienko (RUS) 6-3 6-2

It was hard at first to get anything going on Kornienko’s serve, but that became easier as the match wore on. Ivo broke him in the last two service games of the first set and kept the momentum going into the second. On his own serve, Ivo had no problems at all, never facing a break point. The fact that Kornienko’s passes weren’t too good helped too. Ivo’s into his first final! Hopefully he’ll take it so we can get going into challengers!

Our opponent in the final is Robbie Koenig (RSA). LOL!!! Koenig is one of the commentators for the Tennis Channel, which broadcasts a lot of the smaller events here in the US. Strange, Koenig isn’t black . . . oh well, I’m pretty sure he was a volleyer. Koenig’s net skills are in the 70s, so that should make him a bit difficult to play. His serve precision is at 80, which won’t make matters any easier. And for variety’s sake, Koenig’s lob is in the high 60s, which should make it more difficult for Ivo to play his game. It should be an interesting match, but because Koenig is a volleyer, I’m going to pick Ivo to win his first title (back off Koenig, you’re a doubles specialist!).

Koenig’s service games strangely weren’t two difficult to get into. Ivo broke him 3 times in the first set alone. However, his passes (especially his lobs) were decent, and he was able to break Ivo back twice. Not that it mattered. Ivo still took the set 6-4.

In the second set, Ivo kept it up, putting even more pressure on Koenig’s serve and holding his own much easier. He was able to jump out to a big lead early in the set and never looked back. Koenig might not have been a worthy opponent for the final after all.









Ivo Karlovic (CRO) def. Robbie Koenig (RSA) 6-4 6-0

Ivo’s done it! He’s won his first title, albeit only a futures! Hopefully this means bigger and better things in the near future.

[Togtdyalttai]

Mexico City


Well, Ivo’s been given a wildcard into the main draw of his first challenger event. Unfortunately it’s on clay. Oh well, we’ll try to take advantage of whatever we can.

We’ve drawn a power baseliner from Haiti, Ronald Agenor. Agenor has groundies in the 60s and a serve in the 50s. I think his game will probably match up a little bit to well with Ivo’s on clay at this point, but you never know.

Ivo Karlovic (CRO) def. Ronald Agenor (HAI) 4-6 7-5 6-2

In the first set, Ivo was able to hold surprisingly easily most of the time, but he couldn’t when it counted. There was an exchange of breaks in the middle of the set and Ivo whiffed on a smash at 4-5 30-40 to give Agenor the set. Then the first game of the second set had 9 deuces, and somehow Agenor was able to hold.
After that both players held easily 3 times in a row, when at 3-4 Ivo threw in 3 double faults to let Agenor serve it out. Luckily, he failed to do so, then Ivo held to make it 5-5, broke again, and held to take the set. In the third, Ivo broke Agenor in the first game and never looked back. Although Agenor had a couple chances to get back on serve, Ivo saved them.

Strange, another power baseliner in the second round. I was expecting a defender given the surface. Renzo Furlan (ITA) is a little bit worse than Agenor in every way. I’d like to say that this should be Ivo’s match then, but I’m not going to take anything for granted on clay.

Ivo Karlovic (CRO) def. Renzo Furlan (ITA) 7-6(5) 3-6 6-2

Ivo went ahead first in this match by breaking Furlan at 3-2. Unfortunately he failed to serve for the set at 5-3 and was unable to convert set points at 5-4. Then it was Furlan’s turn to fail to go ahead when Ivo held after being down 15-40 on his serve at 5-5. Furlan held once again to send the set into a tiebreak. There was an exchange of minibreaks early in the breaker, but it was on serve at 5-4 when Furlan sent a passing shot wide to give Ivo two set points, of which he converted the second. In the second set, there was only one break. Furlan achieved it at 3-2 and went on to serve out the set. The third set was over when Ivo broke at the same juncture (3-2). He didn’t even have to serve it out this time, as he was able to break Furlan once again at 5-2.

Quino Munoz (ESP) is our quarterfinal opponent. Here’s the defender I’ve been expecting. Munoz has groundies in the 60s, and good consistency in every aspect of his game. Should be difficult. I have to say I expect another 3-setter.

Ivo Karlovic (CRO) def. Quino Munoz (ESP) 6-0 6-4

What an awful prediction! Ivo absolutely dominated in the first, but Munoz stepped it up in the second. He only really troubled Ivo in two service games, and one of those Ivo was able to get through. I guess the lowered power (Munoz compared to Furlan/Agenor) helped Ivo.

Juan-Manuel Balcells (ESP) has defeated two players I’ve heard of in the previous two rounds: Harel Levy and Juan Ignacio Chela (and I was looking forward to going into some facts about them too ). Anyway, he’s a power baseliner with stats very similar to Agenor’s. Would it be wrong to predict 3 sets again?

Juan-Manuel Balcells (ESP) def. Ivo Karlovic (CRO) 6-3 7-5

To answer my own question, yes. The two stories of this match were that Ivo could not get ahead in a set despite quite a few chances in the second, and Balcells was able to negate the effects of Ivo’s serve quite skillfully. Oh well, it was a good run, especially considering the higher level of players and the surface. Maybe this red stuff isn’t so bad for Ivo? We’ll see later.

[Togtdyalttai]

Videos from Mexico City:

[Togtdyalttai]

SF from Mexico City:

[kyuuji]

Thank tou very much Togt'
To bad he lost in SF

[Togtdyalttai]

Tallahassee


Ivo was offered another wildcard into another challenger, but this one’s on cement. The big man rose an astounding 304 ranking places this week to get to 316th. No more futures!

He’s drawn Stefano Pescosolido (ITA), a counterpuncher with decent stats all around (mostly in the 40s), but nothing outstanding. It should be tricky, but I think Ivo can get through him.

Ivo Karlovic (CRO) def. Stefano Pescosolido (ITA) 6-4 7-6(9)

The match started out in a pretty straightforward fashion. Ivo broke Pescosolido once and that was enough. He saved one break point while serving for the set but was otherwise untroubled on serve. Then the match went into utter chaos. There wasn’t much of a pattern at all in the second set. Ivo started out up a break but then went down one and Pescosolido served for the set at 5-3. But Ivo broke him at love and then both men held to push it into a tiebreak. Then even more chaos ensued, with the only pattern being that the score was always close. Ivo had 3 match points and two set points against him before finally taking the set and the match. The net was a bad place to be in this match, unlike in most of Ivo’s matches: Ivo won 53/100 points there and Pescosolido 16/35—a combined 51%.

Werner Eschauer (AUT) is next. I’ve heard of him, though I’ve never seen him play and he hasn’t done much in his career, so I won’t go into it. What is remarkable about him is that almost every one of his stats (his net skills are not) is in the 40s. He’s a puncher, so I guess that makes a bit of sense. I think Ivo should be the better player, but you never know.

Ivo Karlovic (CRO) def. Werner Eschauer (AUT) 6-2 7-5

Once again, the first set was pretty straightforward. Ivo broke early and maintained a stranglehold on it. But Eschauer got into the second set after coming back from 0-40 and saving two more break points after that in the first game. Then it was Ivo’s turn to come back from 0-40 down. He did that two service games in a row (3-4 and 4-5) and somehow broke Eschauer the next game to steal the set and win the match.

Jiri Vanek (CZE), another guy I’ve heard of but don’t know much about. He’s a volleyer with literally every stat in a 13-point range from 46-58. This type of player does not match up well with Ivo, so I think he should win.

Ivo Karlovic (CRO) def. Jiri Vanek (CZE) 6-3 2-6 6-2

This was a strange match, for a couple reasons. Each set was decided by two breaks, with the loser being broken in his last service game in each one. Ivo held serve easily in the first and third sets, but couldn’t buy a hold in the second after getting to 1-1. But he made it through, and that’s what counts.

The name of our next opponent sounds familiar to me, but I’m not sure I know him or not. Barry Cowan (GBR) is another volleyer with a serve and net skills in the 50s. And lookie here, we’ve got a lefty, that should even the playing field somewhat. He should be a decent player, but once again his style should be his demise.

Barry Cowan (GBR) def. Ivo Karlovic (CRO) 6-2 6-3

This was an awful match for Ivo. He had so many chances on Cowan’s serve but could only convert one of them. And Cowan was opportunistic with his chances: he was able to break Ivo twice in each set. This was a match Ivo should have won. Maybe next time.

[Guest]

Barry Cowan commentates for British tennis sometimes and also took Sampras to 5 sets at wimbledon one year

[Togtdyalttai]

Barry Cowan commentates for British tennis sometimes and also took Sampras to 5 sets at wimbledon one year

Aha! Thank you, guest.

[kyuuji]

Any videos of the latest matches xD ??

[Togtdyalttai]

Videos from Tallahassee (at Kyuuji's request )

[Togtdyalttai]

Ivo's disappointing semifinal loss to Barry Cowan:

[kyuuji]

Thank You!

[Ciao]

Hi...i was searching for some info about the game and i read your diary, it's great!!!
I ask you one thing because i didn't find it anywhere...i see you played against some ex players like Agenor and Pescosolido, so i ask: how is the player database?? Is it real with present players?? It has only ex players?? it has only fantasy players??

Thanks and keep this diary alive...

[Togtdyalttai]

Hi...i was searching for some info about the game and i read your diary, it's great!!!
I ask you one thing because i didn't find it anywhere...i see you played against some ex players like Agenor and Pescosolido, so i ask: how is the player database?? Is it real with present players?? It has only ex players?? it has only fantasy players??

Thanks and keep this diary alive...

Well, it's 2000 right now in my game, so there's probably some players from then. And yes, there's also some current players too, and some made up ones.

[Togtdyalttai]

Valencia, CA



Ivo’s received another wild card, but I’m not sure why he needs it. He’s now ranked 250, so I would think he’d be able to get in by virtue of his ranking alone. Oh well.

The first round brings us an Uzbek with a lovely name: Oleg Ogorodov (and how could you not have a lovely name, being from the same country as Akgul Amanmuradova?). Oleg’s a puncher with good power in his groundies but poor consistency. He also has a decent serve. I think this is a good matchup for Ivo, but after the Tallahassee semi, what do I know?

Ivo Karlovic (CRO) def. Oleg Ogorodov (UZB) 6-2 3-6-6-3

Ivo’s serve seemed to be more of a weapon, as well it should after we’ve raised that stat more. He was only broken once in the match, though he had a tough time on Ogorodov’s serve.

Another puncher is next on Ivo’s list. Simon Larose (CAN) has groundstrokes that are better than Ogodorov’s and has otherwise essentially the same stats. If we went 3 sets in the last match, that can’t mean good things for this one.

Ivo Karlovic (CRO) def. Simon Larose (CAN) 6-3 6-3

This was easier than expected. Ivo got broken in the first game of the match but after that he was able to essentially dominate. Larose wasn’t quite as good from the baseline as expected and Ivo was able to win most of his points at the net.

Kinda strange that we hadn’t seen this type of player much before, but Orlin Stanoytchev (BUL) is yet another player with powerful but inconsistent groundies and a decent serve, though he is a power baseliner. Even so, he’s got pretty much the same stats as Larose. I don’t know what to expect from our last two matches, so I won’t even try.

Ivo Karlovic (CRO) def. Orlin Stanoytchev (BUL) 6-4 6-4

Ivo’s serve was quite a weapon in this match. He had one slip-up after breaking Stanoytchev in the 2nd at 4-3, but broke right back and then served the match out. Ivo simply did what he needed to in order to win and to make his 3rd straight semifinal.

Next up is Tommy Robredo (ESP). Good times. Robredo’s been around on the ATP tour for awhile now, winning a ton of Mickey Mouse tournaments like this year’s Buenos Aires and never really doing too much in the slams (though he did make the quarterfinals at Roland Garros this year). He reached a high ranking of 8, but no one’s ever really considered him a contender for any big tournaments (he did win MS Hamburg in 2006, but that year both Federer and Nadal skipped the tournament and there was a very pathetic field). This Tommy Robredo is ranked below 200 and his stats are nothing special. He’s a power baseliner with groundies in the 50s, a serve in the 40s, and other stats a little bit worse than the serve. In real life Ivo’s got a 3-0 head-to-head against Robredo, and I look for him to make the first step towards that here.

Ivo Karlovic (CRO) def. Tommy Robredo (ESP) 6-3 6-4

Ivo started off slow, losing his serve in the first game and going down 3-1. Then he rumbled back and won 5 straight games to take the set. In the second set, Ivo had chances to break Robredo and keep the momentum going in the first game, but failed to capitalize. Then each player held serve quite easily until 4-4, when Ivo broke and proceeded to serve out the match. Ivo’s into a challenger final!

Yo Manu: Robredo has a one-handed backhand, tends not to wear a hat, and has lighter skin than you’ve given him.

Davide Sanguinetti is our opponent in the final. I’ve heard about him, but never seen him play, so I won’t go into that. Rather, I’ll go into his strange stats. Every stat but one (backhand volley) is in the 50s, and even that’s at 49. Needless to say, his style is varied. I think that Ivo’s got a good chance to take this tournament.

Davide Sanguinetti (ITA) def. Ivo Karlovic (CRO) 6-4 3-6 6-3

Once again, Ivo started out slowly, falling behind in his opening service game. Luckily this time he didn’t get broken. Then at 3-2, he had 3 break points on Sanguinetti’s serve, but he couldn’t convert either. After that letdown, Ivo totally lost it and got broken at love the next game. Sanguinetti kept going after that and held two more times to take the set. But in the second, Ivo started out by saving break points in the first game, then broke Sanguinetti in the next. He was able to hold onto the break for the rest of the set, including coming back from 0-40 down at 4-2 to hold. The third set proceeded along without so much as a break point until 3-4 on Ivo’s serve. Ivo was able to save 3 of them before Sanguinetti finally broke through. Then he was able to hold to deny Ivo the title. Ivo had his chances, but despite 23 aces from the big man, Sanguinetti was just too tough.