Fastest recorded tennis serves

Samuel Groth had the fastest serve at 263 km/h (163 mph) in May 2012

This article lists the fastest recorded tennis serves in the men's and women's games. This list may not be historically complete. A serve by Bill Tilden in 1931 was timed at 262.8 km/h (163.3 mph), but this is not listed because of questionable technological accuracy.[1]

Though the Association of Tennis Professionals does not formally recognize service speed records made in Challenger events due to the variance in radar guns; the serve of 263 km/h (163 mph) recorded by Australian Samuel Groth at an ATP Challenger event in Busan, South Korea in May 2012 was measured using approved equipment, and other data gathered appeared within a normal range. Technically however, Ivo Karlovic still holds the official record for the fastest serve.[2]

Criteria

Men

RankPlayerSpeedEvent
1Australia Samuel Groth263.4 km/h (163.7 mph)2012 Busan Open Challenger Tennis[5][6]
2France Albano Olivetti257.5 km/h (160 mph)2012 Internazionali Trofeo Lame Perrel–Faip[7]
3Croatia Ivo Karlović251 km/h (156 mph)2011 Davis Cup[8]
Poland Jerzy Janowicz[note 1]2012 Pekao Szczecin Open[10]
4Canada Milos Raonic249.9 km/h (155.3 mph)2012 Rogers Cup [11]
5United States Andy Roddick249 km/h (155 mph)2004 Davis Cup [12][13]
6United States Roscoe Tanner[note 2]246 km/h (153 mph)1978 American Airlines Tennis Games
7Sweden Joachim Johansson245 km/h (152 mph)2004 Davis Cup [14]
Spain Feliciano López2014 Aegon Championships
8Romania Marius Copil242.0 km/h (150.4 mph)2015 Australian Open
9United States John Isner241.2 km/h (149.9 mph)2011 Western & Southern Open
10United States Taylor Dent241.1 km/h (149.8 mph)2006 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament [13]
Poland Hubert Hurkacz241.1 km/h (149.8 mph)2015 Wrocław Open
11Latvia Ernests Gulbis240.3 km/h (149.3 mph)2007 St. Petersburg Open
12United Kingdom Greg Rusedski240 km/h (149 mph)1998 Newsweek Champions Cup [15]
13Russia Dmitry Tursunov237 km/h (147 mph)2006 Davis Cup
France Jo-Wilfried Tsonga2014 Rogers Cup
14France Gaël Monfils235 km/h (146 mph)2007 Legg Mason Tennis Classic [13]
Serbia Dušan Vemić2008 Countrywide Classic [13]
15Lithuania Ričardas Berankis234.0 km/h (145.4 mph)2011 Open d'Orléans[16]
Switzerland Stanislas Wawrinka2014 Davis Cup
16Croatia Ivan Ljubičić233 km/h (145 mph)2007 Pacific Life Open
United Kingdom Andy Murray2007 SAP Open [17]
Bulgaria Grigor Dimitrov2013 Aegon Championships
17United States Mardy Fish232 km/h (144 mph)2007 Pacific Life Open[13]
Spain Fernando Verdasco2009 French Open[13]
Poland Marcin Matkowski2009 ATP World Tour Finals
Serbia Viktor Troicki2013 Davis Cup [18]
18Switzerland Roger Federer230 km/h (143 mph)2010 Gerry Weber Open
Netherlands Martin Verkerk2003 Breil Milano Indoor
Germany Daniel BrandsIntersport Heilbronn Open
Sweden Robin Söderling2010 ATP World Tour Finals
Czech Republic Jiří Veselý2014 Wimbledon
19Australia Mark Phillipoussis229 km/h (142 mph)1997 Franklin Templeton Classic [19]
Russia Mikhail Youzhny2005 Davis Cup
Serbia Ilija Bozoljac2011 Intersport Heilbronn Open
France Jérémy Chardy2013 Australian Open
20United States Sam Querrey227 km/h (141 mph)2009 Wimbledon
United States Jack Sock2012 BB&T Atlanta Open
France Gilles Simon2015 Australian Open
United States Ryan Harrison2015 BNP Paribas Open
21Chile Fernando González226.0 km/h (140.4 mph)2009 French Open
Czech Republic Tomáš Berdych2009 French Open
Germany Benjamin Becker2008 Australian Open
Spain Marcel Granollers2015 Australian Open [20]
22Spain Julián Alonso225.3 km/h (140 mph) 1997 Waldbaum's Hamlet Cup
Belgium Gilles Elseneer2003 Davidoff Swiss Indoors
Spain Nicolás Almagro2009 French Open
Argentina Juan Martín del Potro2009 Rogers Cup
Cyprus Marcos Baghdatis2010 BMW Open
Netherlands Thiemo de Bakker2010 Gerry Weber Open
Australia James Duckworth2013 Australian Open
  1. ↑ The ATP does not officially recognize Janowicz's serve due to variance in the radar guns used. 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.[9]
  2. ↑ The 246 km/h (153 mph) serve by Roscoe Tanner in 1978 is not considered by many as an official record due to the inaccuracy of the equipment used at that time.

Women

RankPlayerSpeed[21] Event[note 1]
1Germany Sabine Lisicki210.8 km/h (131.0 mph) 2014 Stanford Classic[22]
2United States Venus Williams207.6 km/h (129.0 mph) 2007 US Open
3United States Serena Williams207.0 km/h (128.6 mph) 2013 Australian Open
4Germany Julia Görges203.0 km/h (126.1 mph)2012 French Open
5Netherlands Brenda Schultz-McCarthy202.7 km/h (126.0 mph)2007 Indian Wells Masters
6Ukraine Nadiya Kichenok202.0 km/h (125.5 mph)2014 Australian Open
7Germany Anna-Lena Groenefeld201.1 km/h (125.0 mph)2009 Indian Wells Masters
8Serbia Ana Ivanovic201.0 km/h (124.9 mph)2007 French Open
Czech Republic Denisa Allertová201.0 km/h (124.9 mph)2015 Australian Open[23]
10France 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. ↑ "Big Bill Tilden—A Tragic Hero?". Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  2. ↑ "Aussie Groth Hits Speedy Serves". Association of Tennis Professionals Staff. 2012-12-05.
  3. ↑ "IDS Serve Speed Leaders". Pro Tennis Internet Network. 2011-06-30.
  4. ↑ "Andy Roddick's Serve". Retrieved 5 June 2012.
  5. ↑ "Aussie smashes tennis serve speed record". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved May 13, 2012.
  6. ↑ "Aussie Hits Fastest Record Serve". ATPWorldTour. May 12, 2012. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
  7. ↑ "Groth and Olivetti Top Guns of Fast Serve". Orange Deuce. August 11, 2012.
  8. ↑ "Ivo Karlovic sets world serve record". ESPN. March 6, 2011.
  9. ↑ "The final in figures". Fédération Française de Tennis. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  10. ↑ "The record service speed of 251km/hour in the Challenger in Szczecin". Official Website of Jerzy Janowicz. August 1, 2013.
  11. ↑ "Rogers Cup tennis: Milos Raonic delivers substance and style: Cox". Toronto Star. August 7, 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
  12. ↑ http://www.sptimes.com/2004/09/25/Sports/Roddick_blasts_155_mp.shtml
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 "2011 ATP World Tour Media Guide". Association of Tennis Professionals. p. 205. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  14. ↑ Botero B., Andrés (15 July 2014). "El saque más veloz del tenis estará en el ATP 250 de Bogotá". eltiempo.com (in Spanish).
  15. ↑ "Hingis wins title; Rusedski hits 149 mph". Houston Chronicle. March 15, 1998. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
  16. ↑ "GENSSE vs BERANKIS". Open d'Orléans. October 21, 2011.
  17. ↑ "Murray cruises into second round". BBC News Online. 14 February 2007. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  18. ↑ http://www.daviscup.com/en/news/articles/serbia-in-the-driving-seat-in-belgium.aspx"
  19. ↑ "Wiberg Wins Slalom To Celebrate World Cup Title". The Seattle Times. 1997-03-08.
  20. ↑ http://www.ausopen.com/en_AU/scores/stats/day9/1214ms.html
  21. ↑ "IDS Serve Speed Leaders". WTA. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  22. ↑ "Lisicki hits fastest serve ever". WTA. July 29, 2014.
  23. ↑ "Australian Open 2015 tournament statistics: Cornet vs. Allertova". ausopen.com. January 22, 2015.