Ivo Karlovic aims to continue his Indian Wells exploits at the Sony Ericsson Open. The tour's tallest man takes on Florian Mayer tonight.
Karlovic rediscovered his mojo in the Californian desert last week. An Achilles' problem affected him through much of 2010 and after slipping outside the top 200, some feared for the Croatian's future but he hit back with a vengeance last week, taking out David Ferrer and Gilles Simon before pushing Rafa Nadal to the brink in the last eight.
A further stroke of luck fell his way earlier this week when Milos Raonic gained direct entry into the main draw freeing up a wildcard and the organisers had no hesitation in handing it to Karlovic.
Mayer enjoyed a strong start to 2011, performing consistently in Doha, Sydney, Zagreb and Dubai but a tough five set loss to Marin Cilic in the Davis Cup derailed him slightly and he was outgunned 6-2, 6-1 by Andrey Golubev in Indian Wells.
Mayer has plenty of guile and he will give Karlovic a fair few problems but the Croatian ace machine is on fire at the moment. Even though the conditions in Miami do not suit him quite as favourably he will still be a force to reckon with.
Prediction: Karlovic in two.
