Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic returns the ball to Australia’s Jordan Thompson during their men’s second round match at the Roland Garros 2016 French Tennis Open in Paris on May 25, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / MIGUEL MEDINA
Croatian 37-year-old Ivo Karlovic on Wednesday became the oldest man since Jimmy Connors in 1991 to reach the French Open third round.
Karlovic, the 27th seed, defeated Australian wildcard Jordan Thompson 6-7 (2/7), 6-3, 7-6 (7/3), 6-7 (4/7), 12-10 in a four and a half hour marathon.
He unleashed 41 aces and 102 winners and goes on to meet second seed Andy Murray who needed five sets to defeat French wildcard Mathias Bourgue.
Connors was 38 years and 280 days old when he fell in the French Open third round in 1991.
Karlovic is also the oldest man to make the third round of any Slam since Connors, at 39 years and six days, reached the same stage at the 1991 US Open.
“It’s the only time when being old is okay,” joked Karlovic, who has never beaten Murray in six career meetings.
Friday’s match will be just the second time that Karlovic has reached the third round in Paris and comes in a season where he missed two months with a knee injury.
Despite his aces haul on Wednesday, it wasn’t a personal record for one match — that came in a Davis Cup tie in 2009 against Radek Stepanek when he unleashed a world record 78.