Ivo Karlovic admitted "one or two points" were the difference as he beat Fernando Verdasco to clinch his second successive Slazenger Open title in the tournament's final year in Nottingham.

The giant Croatian saved a match point with his 29th ace before securing a dramatic 7-5 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (10-8) victory in a match played indoors because of poor weather.

Verdasco handed the first set to Karlovic on a double fault and the same weakness was to come back to haunt him in the deciding tie-break.

After he had levelled the match and then broken the fourth seed's serve to take the third set into a breaker, two missed serves at 8-8 allowed Karlovic to serve out for victory.

The 6ft 10in 29-year-old said: "It was really difficult. He was playing really well and in the end it was all down to one or two points.

"I was lucky that it was on my side but it was a close match. I was really angry that I lost my serve but I tried to calm down and focus on the next game.

"His confidence was rising after that so I was worried but in the end all was good."

The match was played in near silence because there were no facilities for spectators and Karlovic admitted it was a strange way to win his fourth career title.

"It was weird because it was indoors and there was not a lot of crowd," he said.

"Normally you're expecting the final to be the biggest crowd so it was a little bit unusual but I'm happy I won."

Verdasco, who is best known as a clay-courter, was left to rue the crucial double fault and reflect on how close he had come.

"Tennis is like this," he said. "I know that this can happen and the opposite, maybe he hits a double fault or I hit a good return in the tie-break and the match is mine.

"I was unlucky today, I tried everything and only for one point he beat me.

"In the third set I was playing so good, I had more chances than he had but he served so good in the tie-break, he made lines all the time, and finally he won.

"I tried my best and it came down to one double fault, it's so bad when you lose like this."

Verdasco had impressed throughout the tournament with his grass-court play but he did not think the move indoors hampered his chances.

"I prefer to play on grass because it's a grass tournament not because I thought there was more chance to beat him or not," the third seed added.