Fastest recorded tennis serves

This article lists serving speed record breaks for the men's and women's professional tennis.

John Isner holds the ATP-recognised record for the fastest recorded tennis serve, with a serve recorded at 253.0 km/h (157.2 mph) in the first round of the 2016 Davis Cup

This list is not historically complete. For instance, not listed here, Roscoe Tanner's serve was clocked at 153 mph at Palm Springs in 1978 during the final against Raúl Ramírez. There are also reports that Bill Tilden had a serve that was clocked at 163.3 mph but there is nothing to verify that.[1] Also, Ellsworth Vines in the Wimbledon finals of 1932 clocked 121 mph (without Radar).[2] Udayachand Shetty's winning serve was clocked by radar at 120 mph using a wooden racquet, at the Gilbey Gins fast serve contest held in Chicago on 24 July 1976.[3] This qualified him to take part in the finals at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills Queens on 20 August 1976. Colin Dibley of Australia won the event with a serve of 130 mph.[4]

Currently, the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) does not formally recognize service speed records made in Challenger tour events due to lack of uniformity in these tournaments' radar guns (including availability or lack thereof). Nevertheless, the serve speed of 263 km/h (163.4 mph) recorded by Australian Sam Groth at an ATP Challenger event in Busan, South Korea in May 2012 was measured using ATP-approved equipment and other data gathered appeared within a normal range. However, John Isner holds the ATP's official record for the fastest serve at 253 km/h (157.2 mph).[5]

Ivo Karlović with a 232 km/h (144.2 mph) second serve in the quarterfinals of the 2007 Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington, holds the record for the fastest second serve ever recorded.[6]

Criteria to be listed in this article
  • Men's serves must be recorded at or over 230 km/h (143 mph) minimum standard speed.
  • Women's serves must be recorded at or over 200 km/h (124 mph) minimum standard speed.[7]
  • Only one serve per player is recorded here. For example, Andy Roddick has many 230 km/h (143 mph) or faster serves on his record but only his personal best of 249 km/h (155 mph) is included.[8]
  • In cases where more than one serve has been recorded at the same speed, the oldest recorded serve is listed first.

Men
  Not recognized by ATP
  Not formally recognized by ATP and/or unsourced
RankPlayerSpeedEvent Type Round Ref.
1 Sam Groth263.0 km/h (163.4 mph)2012 Busan Open Challenger Tennis Singles 2R [9]
2 Albano Olivetti257.5 km/h (160.0 mph)2012 Internazionali Trofeo Lame Perrel–FaipSingles 1R [10]
3 John Isner253.0 km/h (157.2 mph)2016 Davis CupSingles 1R [11]
4 Ivo Karlović251.0 km/h (156.0 mph)2011 Davis Cup Doubles 1R [12]
Jerzy Janowicz[note 1]251.0 km/h (156.0 mph)2012 Pekao Szczecin OpenSingles 1R [14]
6 Andy Roddick249.4 km/h (155.0 mph)2004 Davis CupSingles SF [15]
Milos Raonic249.4 km/h (155.0 mph)2012 SAP OpenSingles SF [16]
8 Joachim Johansson244.6 km/h (152.0 mph)2004 Davis Cup Doubles 1R [17]
Feliciano López244.6 km/h (152.0 mph)2014 Aegon Championships Singles 1R [18]
10 Marius Copil244.0 km/h (151.6 mph)2016 European OpenSingles QF [19]
11 Hubert Hurkacz243.0 km/h (151.0 mph)2016 Davis CupSingles 1R [19]
12 Taylor Dent241.0 km/h (149.8 mph)2006 ABN AMRO World Tennis TournamentSingles 1R [16]
13 Juan Martín del Potro240.0 km/h (149.1 mph)2017 Stockholm OpenSingles F [20]
14 Greg Rusedski239.8 km/h (149.0 mph)1998 Newsweek Champions CupSingles SF [21]
15 Dmitry Tursunov237.0 km/h (147.3 mph)2006 Davis CupSingles SF
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga237.0 km/h (147.3 mph)2014 Rogers CupSingles QF [22]
Frances Tiafoe237.0 km/h (147.3 mph)2018 Estoril OpenSingles F
Taylor Fritz237.0 km/h (147.3 mph)2020 US OpenSingles 3R [23]
18 Fernando González236.0 km/h (146.6 mph)2007 Italian OpenSingles SF [24]
19 Gaël Monfils235.0 km/h (146.0 mph)2007 Legg Mason Tennis ClassicSingles QF [16]
Dušan Vemić235.0 km/h (146.0 mph)2008 Countrywide ClassicSingles ? [16]
Marin Čilić235.0 km/h (146.0 mph)2016 Davis CupSingles 1R
Reilly Opelka235.0 km/h (146.0 mph)2019 Swiss IndoorsSingles QF
22 Ivan Ljubičić234.0 km/h (145.4 mph)2005 Mutua Madrileña Masters MadridSingles F
Stan Wawrinka246.0 km/h (152.9 mph)2008 Beijing Olympics Doubles SF [25]
24 Grigor Dimitrov233.4 km/h (145.0 mph)2013 Aegon Championships Singles ?
Viktor Troicki233.4 km/h (145.0 mph)2017 Davis Cup Singles ?
27 Nicolás Jarry233.0 km/h (144.8 mph)2018 Davis Cup ? 1R [26]
28 Fernando Verdasco 232.0 km/h (144.2 mph)2009 French Open ? ? [16]
Dominic Thiem232.0 km/h (144.2 mph)2017 Gerry Weber Open ? ?
30 Mardy Fish 231.7 km/h (144 mph)2007 Pacific Life Open Singles 1R
Alexander Zverev 231 km/h (144 mph) 2020 ATP Finals Singles RR
Marcin Matkowski231.7 km/h (144 mph)2009 ATP World Tour Finals Doubles ?
32 Robin Söderling 230.1 km/h (143.0 mph)2010 ATP World Tour Finals Singles RR
Nick Kyrgios230.1 km/h (143.0 mph)2019 WimbledonSingles 2R [27]
Roger Federer230.1 km/h (143.0 mph)2010 Gerry Weber Open ? ? [28]
35 Martin Verkerk 230.0 km/h (142.9 mph)2003 Breil Milano Indoor ? ?
Nicolás Almagro230.0 km/h (142.9 mph) 2016 Argentina Open ? ?
  1. His fastest verified serve clocked in at 149.3 mph (240 km/h) in the 2013 Davis Cup and he produced a 150.4 mph (242 km/h) serve during his run in the 2012 Paris Masters, but it was a let.[13]

Women

The WTA does not recognize, nor keep tabs of speed records set outside a selected main draw segment of WTA Tour tournaments (where at least one of the tennis courts has a speed gun installation in place). Therefore, even records that have been achieved during qualifications in those same places but not in main draw matches, as well as records documented at other matches like ITF tour events, Fed Cup ties, Olympics tennis and other tournaments, are not counted as part of women's speed records.

  Not recognized by WTA
Rank Player Speed[29] Event[note 1] Ref.
1 Georgina Garcia Pérez220.0 km/h (136.7 mph)2018 Hungarian Ladies Open[30]
2 Aryna Sabalenka 214.0 km/h (133.0 mph) 2018 WTA Elite Trophy[31]
3 Sabine Lisicki210.8 km/h (131.0 mph)2014 Stanford Classic[32]
4 Brenda Schultz-McCarthy 209.2 km/h (130.0 mph) 2006 Cincinnati Masters (qualifiers)[33]
5 Venus Williams207.6 km/h (129.0 mph)2007 US Open
6 Serena Williams 207.0 km/h (128.6 mph)2013 Australian Open
Ivana Jorović207.0 km/h (128.6 mph)2017 Fed Cup
8 Julia Görges203.0 km/h (126.1 mph)2012 French Open
Caroline Garcia203.0 km/h (126.1 mph)2016 Fed Cup
10 Brenda Schultz-McCarthy202.7 km/h (126.0 mph)2007 Indian Wells Masters
11 Nadiya Kichenok202.0 km/h (125.5 mph)2014 Australian Open
12 Lucie Hradecká 201.2 km/h (125.0 mph)2015 Wimbledon
Naomi Osaka201.2 km/h (125.0 mph)2016 US Open
14 Anna-Lena Grönefeld201.1 km/h (125.0 mph)2009 Indian Wells Masters
15 Ana Ivanovic201.0 km/h (124.9 mph)2007 French Open
Denisa Allertová201.0 km/h (124.9 mph)2015 Australian Open[34]
17 Kristina Mladenovic200.0 km/h (124.3 mph)2009 French Open
  1. "IDS only collects serve speed data on show courts at certain events (11 in 2014) and started doing so in 1989 ... Players who have had multiple Top 10 fastest serves only have their top one listed, and if they hit that top speed multiple times, just the first time they did it is listed." http://www.wtatennis.com/news/article/1978722/title/ids-serve-speed-leaders

See also

References
  1. Allen, J. A. "Pete Sampras and the Top 25 Servers in the History of Men's Tennis". Bleacher Report.
  2. Smith, Red (1977-08-26). "They only serve but Hard". New York Times. p. 37.
  3. "Aussie has a racket- hits "em 148 miles per hour". Chicago Tribune (published 1976-08-19). 1976. p. 7.
  4. Rogers, Thomas (1976-08-21). "Dibley service fastest in town". New York Times.
  5. "Aussie Groth Hits Speedy Serves". Association of Tennis Professionals Staff. 2012-12-05.
  6. http://isportsweb.com/2015/10/10/tennis-ivo-karlovic-loses-but-breaks-another-record/
  7. "IDS Serve Speed Leaders". Pro Tennis Internet Network. 2011-06-30.
  8. "Andy Roddick's Serve". Retrieved 5 June 2012.
  9. "Aussie smashes tennis serve speed record". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved May 13, 2012.
  10. "Groth and Olivetti Top Guns of Fast Serve". Orange Deuce. August 11, 2012.
  11. "Davis Cup 2016: John Isner breaks serve speed record with 253km/h bomb". Fox Sports. 2016-03-06. Retrieved 2017-12-19.
  12. "Ivo Karlovic sets world serve record". ESPN. March 6, 2011.
  13. "The final in figures". Fédération Française de Tennis. Archived from the original on 2 July 2013. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  14. "The record service speed of 251km/hour in the Challenger in Szczecin". Official Website of Jordan Tratree. August 1, 2013.
  15. "Karlovic sets world record with 156 mph serve". ESPN.com. March 6, 2011.
  16. "2011 ATP World Tour Media Guide". Association of Tennis Professionals. p. 205. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  17. Botero B., Andrés (15 July 2014). "El saque más veloz del tenis estará en el ATP 250 de Bogotá". eltiempo.com (in Spanish).
  18. López, Feliciano (9 June 2014). "We will continue playing 2morrow at 12 noon.So happy to hit my fastest bullet today 152mph!!!!". @feliciano_lopez. Retrieved 2017-12-19.
  19. "Nu-i joacă de Copil! Arădeanul este în semifinale, la Budapesta. Am aflat de ce evoluează senzațional! | Alte sporturi, Alte sporturi, Sport, Tenis, Tenis | Libertatea.ro". Libertatea.ro (in Romanian). 2016-10-28. Retrieved 2017-12-19.
  20. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wRxefz_HA0&t=492s%7Caccessdate=2017-12-19}}
  21. "Hingis wins title; Rusedski hits 149 mph". Houston Chronicle. March 15, 1998. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
  22. "Tsonga credits leg work to increased serve speed". theScore.com. Retrieved 2017-12-19.
  23. https://www.usopen.org/en_US/scores/stats/1303.html
  24. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyKcXaEO9Wc&t=6m33s
  25. Federer/Wawrinka vs. BRYAN Brothers - Olympics 2008 Highlights (HD), retrieved 2020-12-27
  26. Lucay, Carlos González (February 5, 2018). "Un saque supersónico". La Tercera.
  27. "Wimbledon 2019: Nick Kyrgios almost breaks fastest serve record in ATP history against Rafael Nadal". FOX Networks Group Asia. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  28. "Fastest Tennis Serves". Tennis Companion. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
  29. "IDS Serve Speed Leaders". WTA. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  30. AS, Diario (2018-02-19). "Georgina García, al cuadro final con un saque de ¡220 km/h!". AS.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-02-23.
  31. "Ardeal on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2018-11-03.
  32. "Lisicki hits fastest serve ever". WTA. July 29, 2014.
  33. "Record opnieuw van Schultz: opslag van 209 kilometer per uur". De Volkskrant. Retrieved 2018-11-04.
  34. "Australian Open 2015 tournament statistics: Cornet vs. Allertova". ausopen.com. January 22, 2015.
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