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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 17, 2017

Ivo Karlovic

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

I. KARLOVIC/H. Zeballos

6-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 22-20

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How does your arm feel?
IVO KARLOVIC: Arm is good, but my knee, my back, little bit not so good. Elbow. All in all, it's okay. Every day it's like this.

Q. Was there ever a point in that fifth set you just wanted it to end, your opponent to give up?
IVO KARLOVIC: Well, no. Actually I was thinking about that other match Isner against Mahut. I was hoping little bit it could go this long so I could also have record. This is also good like this.

Q. 0-2 down sets, 37 degrees hot, you turned it around, served 75 aces. Where did you find energy?
IVO KARLOVIC: I don't know. Gatorades and water, I don't know. I mean, I began really bad. I didn't really feel good on the court. As the match was going on, it was little bit less hot also. So that kind of also gave me opportunity to be more, how you say, not tired.

I was just trying to hang in there, just point by point.

Q. You've played a lot of long, tough matches in your career. How does this one compare to all the others?
IVO KARLOVIC: Yeah, this is up there definitely with all of them. It was real difficult match. It was also difficult mentally because I was down 2-0. I had to also fight against him and against my own head, you know. So it was definitely really difficult.

Q. You were seven years ago in Davis Cup semifinals, you played against Radek Stepanek, you played almost the longest match in history.
IVO KARLOVIC: I remember this match. It was really long. After that, I was down for, like, three months because I lost. It was long match. After I got injured also because of that. So I remember it well.

Q. In a moment like tonight, is this really the reason why it's worth working at your age playing tennis?
IVO KARLOVIC: Definitely. This is what I will, after my career, remember. If it was easy match or I lost easy, I wouldn't remember. But this one definitely I will remember forever.

Q. How are you going to recover from tonight going into the next round given in previous long matches you were injured?
IVO KARLOVIC: I don't know how I will recover. I will have two days now. Tomorrow off. I will not even hit. I'm just going to do the ice bath, try to hit good, go to sleep early. Hopefully that will be enough.

Q. How does it feel after you lost in Davis Cup in Argentina at home in the final?
IVO KARLOVIC: Yeah, it was difficult loss. But this is our lives. This is how it is. There is ups and downs. Now it is up. So I'm happy about this one, definitely.

Q. You said, This is our life. After 35, what keeps a player going? Everybody asks Roger Federer, but nobody asks you about retirement. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
IVO KARLOVIC: I think it's a good thing that I'm still here. I realize this is unbelievable life that I have. I really love traveling. I love winning. It's an unbelievable life. I'm hoping that it will not end soon, that I will still have -- I mean, playing tennis, that it will not end soon.

I mean, as long as I will not have any other injuries, and while my ranking is up here, I will continue definitely.

Q. While you were playing, did you think you were going to break the record of the longest match?
IVO KARLOVIC: No, I didn't think about that. I have just tried to win any way I can. I didn't really think about that.

Is it longest in Australian Open?

Q. It's the longest by games, number.
IVO KARLOVIC: Oh, games.

Q. You also now are holding all Grand Slam opens, US Open, Paris and here in aces in one match. It's hard to beat the Wimbledon. Does anybody have a chance to beat that one?
IVO KARLOVIC: It is difficult. Only if they make an agreement, they also go long match like this. I mean, otherwise there is no chance.

Q. When you are playing, as the game went on, there are more and more fans around the court. How did it feel?
IVO KARLOVIC: It was nice. Atmosphere was really good. There was a lot of Croatians, a lot of Argentinians, also every other nationality. It was really cool.

Q. What do you have to say to the younger generation coming up to replace the top four and you? Is there a fear that the quality of the game will come down?
IVO KARLOVIC: No, no, I don't believe that. I think there is a really good young ones that are entertaining a lot. I think tennis is a really good position.

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