Two years and four months before his last match on the ATP circuit, Ivo Karlovic (who will turn 45 on February 28) announced his official retirement from tennis.

Ivo Karlovych finished tennis

The 2.11m giant last played at Indian Wells 2021 (3-6, 6-7 against Emilio Gomez) and announced on Wednesday that he would not be returning to the sport in which he holds several records.

What you need to know about the career of Ivo Karlovich:

• Karlovic is the highest-ranked player in history to break into the ATP top 15. In 2008, the Croatian was ranked 14th after defeating Roger Federer (at that time the world leader) at the Cincinnati Masters tournament.

• During his career, Karlovic won eight ATP tournaments: Houston, Nottingham, Stockholm (2007), Nottingham (2008), Bogotá (2013), Delray Beach (2015), Newport and Los Cabos (2016). Ivo played 11 more finals.

• He won the Davis Cup with Croatia in 2005.

• He won two ATP doubles titles and reached the semi-finals of the 2010 Australain Open.

• He held the record for the most aces in the history of the ATP tour (13,728). Horvat was overtaken by John Isner in July 2022 (the American finished his career with 14,470 aces).

• Karlovic holds the record for the number of aces in ATP Tour matches (45), Australian Open (75), Roland Garros (55), US Open (61) and Davis Cup (78 – a personal record).

• He made his debut in the main draw of Grand Slam tournaments, defeating Lleyton Hewitt (the current champion) on the center court of Wimbledon (2003).

• Played 801 tie-breaks (398 wins – 403 losses) in 717 matches (371 wins – 346 losses).

• His best Grand Slam finish is reaching the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in 2009. He also reached the round of 16 at the Australian Open (2010) and the US Open (2016), as well as the third round at Roland Garros (2014, 2016 ).

• Ivo reached the final at Pune 2019 aged 39, becoming the oldest finalist since Ken Rosewall (43) in Hong Kong in 1977.

The letter in which Ivo Karlovych announced the end of his tennis career

“Dear fans and friends, I hope this post has found you all in a good mood and with a strong backhand!

Some of you have noticed that I haven’t competed in a tournament in a while, and I still get asked every day if and when I’ll be back on the track. I am sorry to disappoint you, but with this letter I want to make everything official and finally announce my departure.

I have had a very rewarding, unorthodox and long career, starting from extremely humble beginnings, especially for a tennis player. Croatia was a very different country in the 80s and 90s when I grew up, and I am very proud of my achievements and what I managed to overcome.

I would like to thank all the coaches and people who participated and contributed to my development as a tennis player. Without you, this happy journey would not be possible.

My family is extremely supportive and I love them very much. I look forward to continuing to spend time with them doing things that are important to us and that are fun.

To all of you who have been a fan and supporter over the years, thank you for being a part of my journey. I love you all and hope to see you again.

I will stay close to tennis and try to share my knowledge and all the incredible experiences of tournaments with new generations of tennis players. The journey continues and the focus refocuses. I am grateful” – Ivo Karlovych on X (formerly Twitter).