Dubai: Croatia's Ivo Karlovic sees a huge task ahead of him as he tries to breathe life into a slowly fading career in tennis.

The player, currently the tallest in the history of the ATP Tour at 6.10 feet, was on Monday trying to come to terms with his form and most importantly, himself and where he is headed.

Even his legendary serve was not adequate as he crashed to Swiss qualifier Marco Chiudinelli in three sets, leaving him to rue missed chances and lost opportunities in a rather up and down career on the Tour.

"It's really not easy if you lose. Possibly the only option before me is to try and wean away the positives and see how I can improve from here and look where I am headed," Karlovic admitted as he planned for his 30th birthday on February 28.

Like most players of this generation, Karlovic started early at the age of six and turned professional only in 2000. He achieved his best singles ranking in August last year when he rode on some fine successes at tournament to climb to a career high No 14.

The No 2 Croat player behind Marin Cilic began last year in a rather sloppy manner, but rebounded from a 12-14 win-loss start through May to finish with a 19-12 record by the end of the year. The second half of the year was eventful with August being the highlight after he advanced to his first ATP Masters Series semifinal in Cincinnati where he defeated Roger Federer, only to fall to Andy Murray.

Given his height and love for basketball, did he ever think of a career switch? "Almost every year I think about giving up on tennis and start playing basketball," Karlovic joked.

"No, I will not give up on tennis because this is what I chose," he shrugged. "My career has been pretty much like this. It has been a rough start so far this year. I have lost matches that I should have easily won. But this is tennis and hopefully this will change and I will be back to my best," he stated.

"I am still young, only 30 in a few more days and I feel I still have a few more years of tennis left on the Tour," Karlovic added. Last season, Karlovic led the Ricoh ATP MatchFacts with 961 aces and his first serve points won rate stood at an amazing 81 per cent.

Karlovic married Alsi at the end of March 2005 and this, he feels has brought in some "social stability" in his life. "My marriage was like a lucky charm for me, it was like an anchor that I needed so badly," Karlovic said.