 Karlovic has broken the aces record three times - and lost on each occasion |
The Czech Republic opened up a 2-0 first-day lead over Israel in their Davis Cup semi-final despite Ivo Karlovic firing a record 78 aces.
Karlovic broke his previous ATP record, but still lost in a gruelling five-set match to Radek Stepanek.
In the second singles rubber, Tomas Berdych beat Marin Cilic in four sets.
Earlier, champions Spain opened up a 2-0 lead over Israel thanks to convincing singles wins by Juan Carlos Ferrero and David Ferrer.
Ferrero thumped Dudi Sela 6-4 6-2 6-0 after Ferrer thrashed Harel Levy.
Spain went into their semi-final without injured top-10 pair Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco but that mattered little with Ferrer and Ferrero doing the business in front of a boisterous home crowd in Murcia.
"It certainly wasn't as comfortable a win as it might have looked," said Ferrer, a 6-1 6-4 6-3 winner.
Tommy Robredo a! nd Feliciano Lopez are due to take on doubles specialists Jona! than Erl ich and Andy Ram on Saturday.
While Spain eased to a 2-0 lead, the Czech Republic only opened up their lead after a marathon day's play.
In total, Stepanek and Karlovic played out 81 games before the first break of serve at 14-14 in the decider.
During that time, Karlovic had sent down 78 aces, 23 more than his previous record in losing in this year's French Open first round to Lleyton Hewitt.
"I did my best, but Stepanek was there all the way," Karlovic said.
"After the loss, the serve record means little."
After sealing the decisive break and serving out for a match that lasted just six minutes shy of six hours, Stepanek said: "Everything is known about Karlovic. He really has a phenomenal serve.
In the second tie, Cilic - who beat Andy Murray in the US Open - went down 6-3 6-3 3-6 4-6 6-3 to world number 18 Berdych.
