Karlovic secures Nottingham title

The Nottingham Open provided Ivo Karlovic with the perfect Wimbledon warm-up as the Croat retained his title with victory over Fernando Verdasco.

Bad weather through the day meant the final had to be played indoors instead of on grass, and it was Karlovic who came through 7-5 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (10-8).
A Verdasco double fault handed Karlovic the opener, but the Spaniard hit back.
Both players then had match points in the third-set breaker, but another double fault handed Karlovic the win.

606: DEBATE How will Karlovic do at Wimbledon?

The victory, in nearly two and a half hours, means the world number 35 will go into the Wimbledon Championships next week as one of the dark horses to win the title.