Tomas Berdych bows out in Halle after record-breaking performance by Ivo Karlovic

Third seed Tomas Berdych suffered a surprise quarter-final defeat at the Gerry Weber Open as Ivo Karlovic fired a record 45 aces in a remarkable serving display.

The towering Croat eclipsed the previous ATP three-set record of 44 in his 7-5 6-7 (8-10) 6-3 win over Berdych, who failed to win a single break point in Halle.

"I always like when I'm best at something, so if it's aces I'm happy about it," said Karlovic, who tied Philippoussis' record from Kuala Lumpur in 1995, by firing 44 - the equivalent of 11 winning games-worth of aces - at Zagreb in February last year.

Karlovic won 90 per cent of points on his first serve, with the Czech unable to put a dent in his rocket-like deliveries, and wrapped up the win with his final ace.

Earlier in the match, Berdych had conceded the first break with a double fault, and fended off a match point in the second set tie-break before Karlovic conceded it with an ugly volley into the net.

But the Zagreb man snatched another break in the third set to move 3-1 up and secured victory with a stream of aces.

"I just knew there was a lot of aces, but I didn't know it was that many," Karlovic said. "The record will always be there, it will always be written. I'm extremely happy."

The 27th-ranked Karlovic will next play either Roger Federer or Germany's Florian Mayer.

"He's the best on grass so it will be really difficult, but if I serve like today I will have a chance," Karlovic said of a possible meeting with the top-seeded Federer.

The American giant John Isner holds the men's overall aces record. He fired down 113 against Nicolas Mahut - who himself hit 103 - in their famous match at Wimbledon in 2010 which is the longest in history at 11 hours and five minutes.