The Hall of Fame Tennis Championships held in Newport is the last grass court tournament of the year - and the only one held in North America - will come to its conclusion on Sunday. The final will pit the towering Croat Ivo Karlovic and a surprise finalist, American Rajeev Ram, against each other. The pair will fight for the trophy with the winner walking away 250 ATP ranking points and an $84,250 paycheck.
Karlovic's road to the final
The Croat, seeded second this week, was in trouble at times in his first round match against Ukrainian Ilya Marchenko but eventually came through that in three tight sets. Since then he hasn't lost a set despite all his matches featuring a tiebreak.
Victories over Dustin Brown, conqueror of Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon, and fourth-seeded American home favorite Jack Sock were an impressive effort from the Croat as he is seeking his second title of the year, after Delray Beach in February.
Ram's road to the final
American Ram has been playing only in his first ATP World Tour main draw this year. He has more than taken advantage of this opportunity, upsetting the American number one, also seeded first this week, John Isner in the first round and in a third set tiebreak, no less.
Having backed up the upset with three further wins, Ram seems to be in a good position to capture his second ever ATP title. Newport has been happy hunting ground for him in the past as his first title came here as well, six years ago when he beat his countryman Sam Querrey in the final. He will be no doubt trying to reproduce that kind of performance again this year, which would immensely boost his lowly ranking of 161.
The matchup
Both players like it on the grass and have a game well-suited for this surface. Karlovic, who stands at a staggering 6'11'', is the tallest player ever to enter the ATP Top 100 since the rankings were established in 1973 and it comes as no surprise that the serve is the cornerstone of his game.
Meanwhile, Ram loves to serve and volley - a tactic that has traditionally been very effective on grass.
Karlovic and Ram have met once on ATP World Tour main draw level in Chennai six years ago where the Croat prevailed in straight sets. Karlovic goes into the final as the favorite but he has been suffering from pain in his right arm throughout the week. "Hopefully my arm will feel good and I'll be able to produce some aces", he stated after the semifinal.
The tall Croat's superior experience at this stage of a tournament combined with a lethal serve is what makes this writer think that the number two seed should turn the match in his favor though.
Prediction: Ivo Karlovic in three sets