AP, Washington :
Even Ivo Karlovic willingly admits that whatever success he has on a tennis court is due mainly to his big serve.
Well, that one stroke is in fine form at the moment, and so is Karlovic, closing in on a second consecutive title at age 37.
Karlovic saved all five break points he faced Saturday and ran his service-game record to 43 for 43 this week, beating fifth-seeded American Steve Johnson 6-4, 6-4 to reach the Citi Open final.
“This is my game. This is my strength,” said the 6-foot-11 Karlovic, a Croatian seeded 13th at the hard-court tournament.
He broke Johnson in the third game of each set, right after saving break points on his own serve.
“It’s definitely frustrating when you have chances, you don’t take ’em, and you lose your focus for a second and you lose serve,” said Johnson, a 26-year-old from California who eliminated top-seeded John Isner in the quarterfinals. “And that’s the margin when you play a guy (like) Ivo, (who) pretty much only has a serve.”
Karlovic will face No. 2-seeded Gael Monfils on Sunday. Monfils, the 2011 runner-up at Washington, advanced by breaking No. 7 Alexander Zverev four times in a 6-4, 6-0 victory that lasted only an hour.
Zverev said afterward he had been throwing up and was dehydrated, attributing the problem to something he ate and adding: “It’s not like I didn’t try.”
Monfils reached the 25th final of his career, but he’s only won five in the past. He is 2-2 against Karlovic, but they haven’t faced each other in five years.
“Ivo is the same,” said Monfils, who has accumulated 15 breaks of serve this week. “You know what to expect.”
In the women’s semifinals, No. 7 Yanina Wickmayer beat No. 6 Yulia Putintseva 6-4, 6-2 to reach her first WTA final of the year and the 11th of her career. Two unseeded Americans, Lauren Davis and Jessica Pegula, met in the other semifinal.
Last week, at the grass-court tournament in Newport, Rhode Island, Karlovic became the oldest man since 1979 to win an ATP singles title. Now he is into another final, the 16th of his career. He is 7-8 so far.
“In my old age,” Karlovic joked, “it is good when you can reach your goals.”
Since losing his first six matches of 2016, Karlovic has gone 16-7.
His game is based on his serve, which comes at opponents from way up high and gets quite a bounce on Washington’s hard courts, especially in the July heat. The temperature approached 100 degrees Saturday, prompting Karlovic to say afterward: “There was this moment where I wanted to lay down.”
