Roger Federer: Miami Open expert reveals ONE player who can help star seal John Isner win
ROGER FEDERER should consider calling Ivo Karlovic to warm up with before his Miami Open final with John Isner on Sunday.
That’s according to Amazon Prime duo Greg Rusedski and Daniela Hantuchova.
He warmed up for his clash against the left-handed Denis Shapovalov with another lefty in Adrian Mannarino.
But very few players in tennis history, nevermind of the current crop on the ATP Tour, pose a threat similar to that of Isner.
Standing at 6ft 10ins and with one of the best serves of all time, the American poses a unique challenge.
One man who could, however, offer Federer a glimpse of what to expect in the final could be Croatian Karlovic.
Still going at the age of 40, Karlovic is actually an inch taller than Isner as the tallest player of all time on tour.
The veteran holds the all-time record for career aces as one of four players to surpass 10,000 alongside Federer, Isner and Goran Ivanisevic.
Karlovic lost in the first round of the Miami Open but the giant server lives and trains in the south of Florida and is therefore likely to be available should Federer dial his number.
Ivo Karlovic trains out of Miami so maybe he will come along
Asked by Catherine Whitaker who the Swiss icon should practice with pre-match, ex-WTA star Hantuchova said: “Get a call to Ivo Karlovic - get him to fly back to Miami!”
Rusedski then added: “Ivo Karlovic trains out of Miami so maybe he will come along.
“But he’s [Federer’s] not so worried about that because what he’ll do, he’ll get a right-handed hitting partner and he’ll get him to stand on the ’T’ in the tennis court and then use the angle with the serves up top to get used to it.
“You have 0.6 of a second to react to that first serve and the second serve is massive which is under a second at 0.9ms.
“He will be prepared for that. He won’t have to deal with the left-handed spin. I think he’s going to be absolutely fine.
“But boy I hope John Isner serves well for that final.”
Asked for his prediction, former world No 4 Rusedski backed Federer to come out on top and claim a 101st career title.
He said: “I’m going for Federer to come through in three sets. I think Isner might sneak a set.”