Ace (tennis)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In tennis, aces are serves that go untouched by the server's opponent's racket and thus are unreturned.[1]

In professional tennis, aces are generally seen on a player's first serve, where the server can strike the ball with maximum force and take more chances with ball placement (usually in the far corners of the service box).[2]

The most common placement of an ace is a hard flat serve to either the middle or the corner of the service box, or a spin serve out wide such as a slice serve (to the deuce court) or a twist serve (to the ad court).

The ATP circuit record for most aces served in one match is held jointly by Ivo Karlović[3][4][5]and Joachim Johansson[6] (51 aces). Interestingly, both of these achievements were gained in losing matches. The record for the fastest ace (as well as the fastest overall serve) is held by Andy Roddick who served a 155 mph (~248 kph) ace against Vladimir Voltchkov during the 2004 Davis Cup.[7]

At the 2007 Indianapolis Tennis Championships Sam Querrey hit 10 consecutive aces when he defeated James Blake in a quarterfinal. This is believed to be an Open Era record.

The Croatian players Karlović, Ljubičić and Ančić are currently best known for their aces, leading the ATP statistics in the number of aces served.

Goran Ivanišević, also Croatian, holds the record for most aces served in a year with 1477 in the 1996 season. Andy Roddick is well known for his consistency in how many aces he achieves in a game usually between 17 and 26.

[edit] References

  1. ^ ace - Definitions from Dictionary.com
  2. ^ TENNIS.com - Tip of the Week - December 19, 2005 - Your Second Serve
  3. ^ [1]
  4. ^ [2]
  5. ^ [3]
  6. ^ [4]
  7. ^ [5]

Often confused, an ace can also be awarded when the opponent hits the serve with his racket, but fails to return the ball in play. The can also be refered to as a Licursi serve.