This article lists the fastest record serve speeds for men's and women's professional tennis. Max reported speeds are dubious due to the occasional errors with ATP radar equipment, especially speeds that have not been recorded twice by the same server, including all serves over 152 mph.
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] Groth has more serves over 145 mph, having serves recorded at 146–147 mph at least 5 times at Grand Slam tournaments.[6] At 20 years old, the american Ben Shelton served at 149 mph during the 1/8 finals of the 2023 US Open (he defeated the world no.14 Tommy Paul 6-4/6-3/4-6/6-4)
Reilly Opelka with a 233 km/h (144.8 mph) second serve in the quarterfinals of the 2021 Italian Open in Rome, holds the record for the fastest second serve ever recorded.[7]
Multiple suspected issues in speed gun readings have been observed on ATP equipment. These include the recorded serves of John Isner at 4,718 km/h (2,931.6 mph),[8] João Sousa at 2,077 km/h (1,290.6 mph),[9] Denis Shapovalov at 424 km/h (263.5 mph),[10] Laslo Djere at 305 km/h (189.5 mph),[11] Alejandro Davidovich Fokina at 252 km/h (156.6 mph),[12] Ryan Harrison at 244.6 km/h (152.0 mph),[13] Gaël Monfils at 242.0 km/h (150 mph),[14] and Rafael Nadal at 230.0 km/h (142.9 mph).[15]
- Criteria to be listed in this article
- Men's serves must be recorded at or over 230 km/h (142.9 mph) minimum standard speed.
- Women's serves must be recorded at or over 200 km/h (124.3 mph) minimum standard speed.[16]
- Only one serve per player is recorded here. For example, Andy Roddick has several 140 mph (225.3 km/h) or faster serves on his record but only his personal best of 249 km/h (155 mph) is included.[17]
- In cases where more than one serve has been recorded at the same speed, the oldest recorded serve is listed first.
Men
W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |
Rank | Player | Max reported | Event | Type | Round | Ref. | Non-outlier max[18] | Average first serve[18] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Sam Groth | 263.0 km/h (163.4 mph) | 2012 Busan Open Challenger Tennis | Singles | 2R | [19] | 147 mph | 123 mph |
1A | Mac Davis | 228.5 km/h (142.0 mph) | 2009 Serena Williams Charity Event – Singles | Singles | 1R | 142 mph | 160 mph | |
2 | Albano Olivetti | 257.5 km/h (160.0 mph) | 2012 Internazionali Trofeo Lame Perrel–Faip | Singles | 1R | [20] | 141 mph | 128 mph |
3 | John Isner[note 1] | 253.0 km/h (157.2 mph) | 2016 Davis Cup | Singles | 1R | [22] | 144 mph | 125 mph |
4 | Ivo Karlović | 251.0 km/h (156.0 mph) | 2011 Davis Cup | Doubles | 1R | [23] | 139 mph | 125 mph |
Jerzy Janowicz[note 2] | 251.0 km/h (156.0 mph) | 2012 Pekao Szczecin Open | Singles | 1R | [25] | 143–150 mph | 120 mph | |
6 | Milos Raonic | 249.9 km/h (155.3 mph) | 2012 SAP Open | Singles | 2R | [26] | 143 mph | 125 mph |
7 | Andy Roddick | 249.4 km/h (155 mph) | 2004 Davis Cup | Singles | SF | [27] | 143 mph | 124 mph |
8 | Chris Guccione | 248.0 km/h (154.1 mph) | 2006 Davis Cup | Singles | 1R | [28] | ||
9 | Joachim Johansson | 244.6 km/h (152.0 mph) | 2004 Davis Cup | Doubles | 1R | [29] | ||
Feliciano López | 244.6 km/h (152.0 mph) | 2014 Aegon Championships | Singles | 1R | [30] | 139 mph | 121 mph | |
11 | Marius Copil | 244.0 km/h (151.6 mph) | 2016 European Open | Singles | QF | [31] | 141-152 mph | 126 mph |
12 | Alexei Popyrin | 243.0 km/h (151.0 mph) | 2023 Tokyo | Singles | QF | |||
Hubert Hurkacz | 243.0 km/h (151.0 mph) | 2016 Davis Cup | Singles | 1R | 134 mph | 121 mph | ||
Oscar Otte | 151 mph (243.0 km/h) | 2021 US Open | Singles | 4R | [32] | |||
15 | Taylor Dent | 241.0 km/h (149.8 mph) | 2006 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament | Singles | 1R | [26] | ||
16 | Ernests Gulbis | 240 km/h (149.1 mph) | 2007 St. Petersburg Open | Singles | ? | |||
Juan Martín del Potro | 240 km/h (149.1 mph) | 2017 Stockholm Open | Singles | F | [33] | 136 mph | 120 mph | |
18 | Greg Rusedski | 239.8 km/h (149.0 mph) | 1998 Newsweek Champions Cup | Singles | SF | [34] | ||
Ben Shelton | 239.8 km/h (149 mph) | 2023 US Open | Singles | 4R | [35] | 149 mph | 126 mph [36] | |
20 | Dmitry Tursunov | 237.0 km/h (147.3 mph) | 2006 Davis Cup | Singles | SF | [37] | ||
Marat Safin | 237.0 km/h (147.3 mph) | 2007 Davis Cup | Singles | QF | ||||
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga | 237.0 km/h (147.3 mph) | 2014 Rogers Cup | Singles | QF | [38] | |||
Frances Tiafoe | 237.0 km/h (147.3 mph) | 2018 Estoril Open | Singles | F | ||||
Reilly Opelka | 237.0 km/h (147.3 mph) | 2022 Sydney | Singles | SF | [39] | 142-147 mph | 127 mph | |
Bernabé Zapata Miralles | 237.0 km/h (147.3 mph) | 2022 Monte-Carlo | Singles | Q | [40] | |||
26 | Taylor Fritz | 236.6 km/h (147.0 mph) | 2020 US Open | Singles | 3R | [41] | 136 mph | 116 mph |
Alexander Zverev | 236.6 km/h (147.0 mph) | 2021 Indian Wells | Singles | 2R | [42] | |||
28 | Fernando González | 236.0 km/h (146.6 mph) | 2007 Italian Open | Singles | SF | [43] | ||
29 | Gaël Monfils [note 3] | 235.0 km/h (146.0 mph) | 2007 Legg Mason Tennis Classic | Singles | QF | [26] | ||
Dušan Vemić | 235.0 km/h (146.0 mph) | 2008 Countrywide Classic | Singles | ? | [26] | |||
Marin Čilić | 235.0 km/h (146.0 mph) | 2016 Davis Cup | Singles | 1R | ||||
Matteo Berrettini | 235.0 km/h (146.0 mph) | 2021 Mutua Madrid Open | Singles | F | [44] | 142 mph | 127 mph | |
33 | Ivan Ljubičić | 234.0 km/h (145.4 mph) | 2005 Mutua Madrileña Masters Madrid | Singles | F | [45] | ||
Ričardas Berankis | 234.0 km/h (145.4 mph) | 2011 Open d'Orléans | Singles | 1R | [46] | |||
Stan Wawrinka | 234.0 km/h (145.4 mph) | 2016 Davis Cup | Doubles | SF | [47] | |||
36 | Andy Murray | 233.4 km/h (145.0 mph) | 2007 SAP Open | Singles | 1R | [48] | ||
Grigor Dimitrov | 233.4 km/h (145.0 mph) | 2013 Aegon Championships | Singles | ? | ||||
Viktor Troicki | 233.4 km/h (145.0 mph) | 2017 Davis Cup | Singles | ? | ||||
39 | Nicolás Jarry | 233.0 km/h (144.8 mph) | 2018 Davis Cup | ? | 1R | [49] | ||
40 | Fernando Verdasco | 232.0 km/h (144.2 mph) | 2009 French Open | ? | ? | [26] | ||
Dominic Thiem | 232.0 km/h (144.2 mph) | 2017 Gerry Weber Open | ? | ? | ||||
41 | Mardy Fish | 231.7 km/h (144.0 mph) | 2007 Pacific Life Open | Singles | 1R | [26] | ||
Marcin Matkowski | 231.7 km/h (144.0 mph) | 2009 ATP World Tour Finals | Doubles | ? | ||||
44 | Robin Söderling | 230.1 km/h (143.0 mph) | 2010 ATP World Tour Finals | Singles | RR | [50] | ||
Daniel Brands | 230.1 km/h (143.0 mph) | 2011 Intersport Heilbronn Open | ? | ? | ||||
Jiří Veselý | 230.1 km/h (143.0 mph) | 2014 Wimbledon | Singles | 2R | [51] | |||
Nikoloz Basilashvili | 230.1 km/h (143.0 mph) | 2017 Wimbledon | Singles | 2R | [52] | |||
Nick Kyrgios | 230.1 km/h (143.0 mph) | 2019 Wimbledon | Singles | 2R | [53] | 139 mph | 121 mph | |
Alexander Bublik | 230.1 km/h (143.0 mph) | 2022 Indian Wells | Singles | 2R | [54] | 134 mph | 126 mph | |
50 | Martin Verkerk | 230.0 km/h (142.9 mph) | 2003 Breil Milano Indoor | ? | ? | |||
Roger Federer | 230.0 km/h (142.9 mph) | 2010 Gerry Weber Open | Singles | F | [55] | |||
Nicolás Almagro | 230.0 km/h (142.9 mph) | 2016 Argentina Open | ? | ? | ||||
Laslo Djere | 230.0 km/h (142.9 mph) | 2022 Italian Open | Singles | 2R | [56] | |||
- ↑ He has a recorded serve speed of 4,718 km/h (2,932 mph) according the ATP tour match statistics against Rafael Nadal in the 2022 Italian Open, but this record is assumed to be a recording error.[21]
- ↑ 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.[24]
- ↑ He had a recorded speed of 242.0 km/h (150 mph) at 2018 Wimbledon, but officials revoked the reading due to errors with the radar gun.[14]
Women
The WTA doesn't keep official serve speed rankings of its own for all its events for a variety of reasons—mainly that serve speed isn't captured on every court at every tournament, and sometimes the technology being used isn't consistent from event to event. The Women's Tennis Association does have an external partner that it officially recognizes which measures and maintains serve speed data at selected number of events. It does not recognize at all, nor keep tabs of speed records set outside the main draw phase of WTA Tour tournaments. Therefore, serve speeds recorded from the qualifying phase of WTA tournaments are not added to the official WTA serve speed statistics. Also WTA tournament serve speeds recorded by different measurement systems or brands (at the discretion of the host or organizer) that are not using technology provided by ATP/WTA's official supplier or partner (currently SMT/IDS), or speeds recorded at any of the non-WTA professional women's tournaments such as the ITF Women's Circuit, the Fed Cup, and Olympics tennis are not added to WTA's official list of records.
- ↑ "IDS (Information and Display Systems) 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 Archived 2016-01-01 at the Wayback Machine
See also
References
- ↑ Allen, J. A. "Pete Sampras and the Top 25 Servers in the History of Men's Tennis". Bleacher Report. Archived from the original on 2020-11-25. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
- ↑ Smith, Red (26 August 1977). "They only serve but Hard". New York Times. p. 37.
- ↑ "Aussie has a racket- hits "em 148 miles per hour". Chicago Tribune (published 19 August 1976). 1976. p. 7.
- ↑ Rogers, Thomas (21 August 1976). "Dibley service fastest in town". New York Times.
- ↑ "Aussie Groth Hits Speedy Serves". Association of Tennis Professionals Staff. 5 December 2012. Archived from the original on 15 May 2012. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
- ↑ "Tennis Abstract: Samuel Groth Match Results, Splits, and Analysis". Archived from the original on 2023-03-13. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
- ↑ "ISportsWeb - All About Sport 2021". Archived from the original on 2018-09-17. Retrieved 2017-01-27.
- ↑ "Rafael Nadal VS. John Isner Rome 2022". Association of Tennis Professionals. 11 May 2022. Archived from the original on 16 June 2022. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
- ↑ "Laslo Djere VS. Joao Sousa Winston-Salem 2022". Association of Tennis Professionals. 23 Aug 2022. Archived from the original on 8 September 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
- ↑ "Lorenzo Sonego VS. Denis Shapovalov Rome 2022". Association of Tennis Professionals. 9 May 2022. Archived from the original on 8 September 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
- ↑ "Jason Kubler VS. Laslo Djere Winston-Salem 2022". Association of Tennis Professionals. 22 Aug 2022. Archived from the original on 8 September 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
- ↑ "Alejandro Davidovich Fokina VS. Félix Auger-Aliassime | Rome 2022". ATP. 10 May 2022. Archived from the original on 15 June 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
- ↑ "Ryan Harrison's 152mph serve @ cincy 2013". Tennis Warehouse. 14 Aug 2023. Archived from the original on 22 January 2023. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
- 1 2 "Wimbledon 2018: How a faulty speed gun robbed Gael Monfils of a slice of tournament history". The Independent. 3 July 2018. Archived from the original on 17 July 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
- ↑ "Rafael Nadal VS. John Isner | Rome 2022". ATP. 8 May 2022. Archived from the original on 16 June 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
- ↑ "IDS Serve Speed Leaders". Pro Tennis Internet Network. 30 June 2011. Archived from the original on 1 January 2016. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
- ↑ "Andy Roddick's Serve". Archived from the original on 6 January 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2012.
- 1 2 "Tennis Abstract: ATP and WTA Match Results, Splits, and Analysis". www.tennisabstract.com. Archived from the original on 7 June 2023. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
- ↑ "Aussie smashes tennis serve speed record". The Sydney Morning Herald. 13 May 2012. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2012.
- ↑ "Groth and Olivetti Top Guns of Fast Serve". Orange Deuce. 11 August 2012. Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
- ↑ "Rafael Nadal VS. John Isner | Rome 2022". ATP. 8 May 2022. Archived from the original on 23 June 2022. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
- ↑ "Davis Cup 2016: John Isner breaks serve speed record with 253km/h bomb". Fox Sports. 6 March 2016. Archived from the original on 24 June 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
- ↑ "Ivo Karlovic sets world serve record". ESPN. 6 March 2011. Archived from the original on 19 January 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2011.
- ↑ "The final in figures". Fédération Française de Tennis. Archived from the original on 2 July 2013. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
- ↑ "The record service speed of 251km/hour in the Challenger in Szczecin". Official Website of Jordan Tratree. 1 August 2013. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "2011 ATP World Tour Media Guide". Association of Tennis Professionals. p. 205. Archived from the original on 9 June 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
- ↑ "Roddick Smacks Voltchkov With a Record 155mph Serve". Tennis X. 24 September 2004. Archived from the original on 2023-04-12. Retrieved 2022-06-24.
- ↑ "Sleeping giant". The Age. 2 April 2006. Archived from the original on 24 June 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
- ↑ Botero B., Andrés (15 July 2014). "El saque más veloz del tenis estará en el ATP 250 de Bogotá". eltiempo.com (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
- ↑ López, Feliciano (9 June 2014). "We will continue playing 2morrow at 12 noon.So happy to hit my fastest bullet today 152mph!!!!". @feliciano_lopez. Archived from the original on 29 January 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
- ↑ "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). 28 October 2016. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
- ↑ "Berrettini Cumple Y Está En Cuartos En Nueva York", ATP Tour, 6 September 2021, archived from the original on 23 June 2022, retrieved 22 June 2022
- ↑ "Private video". Archived from the original on 23 July 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2017 – via YouTube.
- ↑ "Hingis wins title; Rusedski hits 149 mph". Houston Chronicle. 15 March 1998. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
- ↑ https://www.eurosport.com/tennis/us-open/2023/bwnshelton-through-to-us-open-quarter-final-stages-after-battling-past-us-rival-tommy-paul_sto9779943/story.shtml
- ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2023-01-24. Retrieved 2023-09-03.
{{cite web}}
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- ↑ "Jo-Wilfried Tsonga ou " l'insouciance " retrouvée". Ouest-France. 12 August 2014.
- ↑ "R. Opelka vs. A. Murray Sydney 2022 Semifinal | Archive | ATP Tour | Tennis". Archived from the original on 2022-06-16. Retrieved 2022-06-16.
- ↑ "BERNABE ZAPATA MIRALLES VS. JOAO SOUSA | MONTE CARLO 2022". 10 April 2022. Archived from the original on 23 June 2022. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
- ↑ "MEN'S SINGLES – ROUND 3". IBM SlamTracker. USTA. Archived from the original on 2022-12-05. Retrieved 2020-09-10.
- ↑ "Jenson Brooksby vs. Alexander Zverev | Indian Wells 2021". Association of Tennis Professionals. Archived from the original on 2021-10-27. Retrieved 2021-10-27.
- ↑ YouTube, a Google company. YouTube. Archived from the original on 2019-07-23. Retrieved 2018-09-25.
- ↑ "MATTEO BERRETTINI". Laver Cup. Archived from the original on 2022-01-18. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
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- ↑ "GENSSE vs BERANKIS". Open d'Orléans. 21 October 2011. Archived from the original on 5 April 2012.
- ↑ "Coupe Davis : la Suisse était plus forte (VIDÉOS)". La Voix du Nord. 22 November 2016.
- ↑ "Murray hits 145mph in fast start to title defence". Independent. 15 February 2007. Archived from the original on 24 June 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
- ↑ Lucay, Carlos González (5 February 2018). "Un saque supersónico". La Tercera. Archived from the original on 25 September 2018. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
- ↑ "Soderling Overpowers Federer". Tennis.about.com. 1 June 2010. Archived from the original on 14 March 2014. Retrieved 6 June 2010.
- ↑ "Jiri Vesely". tennisabstract.com. Archived from the original on 5 March 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
- ↑ "Nikoloz Basilashvili". tennisabstract.com. Archived from the original on 5 March 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
- ↑ "Wimbledon 2019: Nick Kyrgios almost breaks fastest serve record in ATP history against Rafael Nadal". FOX Networks Group Asia. Archived from the original on 6 July 2019. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
- ↑ "Serve Max Speed". Ultimate Tennis Statistics. Archived from the original on 22 May 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
- ↑ "Fastest Tennis Serves". Tennis Companion. 30 April 2018. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
- ↑ "Laslo Djere VS. Stan Wawrinka | Rome 2022". ATP. 8 May 2022. Archived from the original on 16 June 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
- ↑ "IDS Serve Speed Leaders". WTA. Archived from the original on 1 January 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
- ↑ AS, Diario (19 February 2018). "Georgina García, al cuadro final con un saque de ¡220 km/h!". AS.com (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 13 September 2022. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
- ↑ "Ardeal on Twitter". Twitter. Archived from the original on 2 May 2022. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
- ↑ "Venus serves up a record". Tvnz.co.nz. 28 August 2007. Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
- ↑ Tennis.com. "Alycia Parks strikes fastest serve in US Open history". Tennis.com. Archived from the original on 2 September 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
- ↑ ""Piece of Cake": Top 10 All-Time Fastest Servers in Women's Tennis". 3 May 2020. Archived from the original on 4 October 2021. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
- ↑ "5 fastest serves ever recorded in women's tennis". sportskeeda. 15 June 2020. Archived from the original on 10 May 2021. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
- ↑ Women's Singles fastest serve speed leaders, 31 August 2022, archived from the original on 1 September 2021, retrieved 5 September 2021
- ↑ "Record opnieuw van Schultz: opslag van 209 kilometer per uur". De Volkskrant. Archived from the original on 4 November 2018. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
- ↑ Joseph, Adi (29 August 2017). "Who is Naomi Osaka? 19-year-old stole U.S. Open spotlight with Round 1 upset". USA Today. Archived from the original on 29 October 2019. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
- ↑ "IDS Serve Speed Leaders". sonyericssonwtatour.com. Archived from the original on 25 March 2010. Retrieved 24 March 2009.
- ↑ "Australian Open 2015 tournament statistics: Cornet vs. Allertova". ausopen.com. 22 January 2015. Archived from the original on 26 January 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
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- ↑ Veronika Kudermetova serves a 200km/h ball against Iga Swiatek