Denis Kudla vs Ivo Karlovic prediction

Before their 4th meeting, Kudla is 2-1 and tie breaks are 2-1 in their first sets of matches. Their last meeting in Madrid Masters 2016 produced 3 tie breaks. Kudla was performing quite good on that period. Kudla is not impressing but he has positive 22-17 record this season. It is 5-5 in his last 10 USA events. He is kind of obsessive player when he plays in USA. He has not big serve like Ivo but his endurance and great court speed may give him slight advantage on tie breaks. As history shows, he can held his serve againt Ivo. Karlovic is now far away from his impressive 2016 season. He quited Wimbledon at first round when he hit 44 aces. But obviously, he is the man of tie breaks. He already lost twice to Denis before, indeed one of them was in Newport. I expect Ivo will not push hard in the first 4-5 games. Tie break is also more likely but Ivo pushes hard when the games are 5-5. Denis will face problems for returning is serve. over 10.5 games in first set looks solid bet.