Nadal Beats Dr. Ivo

Rafael Nadal had the large task of meeting Ivo Karlovic, the biggest server on the tour, in the round of 16. The 6’10” Croat had already taken out Radek Stepanek and Ivan Ljubicic in earlier rounds. The Spaniard had some problems returning serve this week. These factors could have been a problematic for the returning champ.

Nadal instead turned up the heat on his serve and was able to hold serve. The Spaniard stayed with the Croat and eventually took advantage of any openings. Nadal eventually triumphed over Karlovic 6-4 4-6 6-4 6-4 after 2 hours and 36 minutes of play. Now, the world no. 2 will face Andy Murray, who beat John Isner, probably the second-best server on tour.

Nadal is currently 7-2 over the Scotsman. The two players have not played since last year in Monaco, but that was before Nadal's physical troubles. Since his return to the tour in Montreal, the Spaniard is 1-9 against top ten players. This week, Nadal has done just enough to win. Murray, on the other hand, has all the skills to win a grand slam but has yet to do so. We shall see if Nadal is ready to ratchet his play up enough to surpass the Scotsman or if Murray can finally cross the threshold to win his first grand slam.

(Image: AP/Andy Wong)