Top five fastest serves in Grand Slam history on the ATP Tour ft. Nick Kyrgios, Ben Shelton

Andy Roddick steals the fastest serve sweepstakes when it comes to Grand Slams.

A simplistic definition of tennis would be that it starts and ends with a serve. Thus, it does control the narrative of a match. A reliable serve is a valuable tool in the player’s bag of tricks. A blend of raw power and precision make up an ideal serve. During the initial years of the sport, the wooden racquets could not generate much speed because of its built and head shape.

Since the graphite racquet went mainstream in the 1990s, the speed of serves has seen an upward trajectory. The fastest serves in the current decade dwarf even those of traditional powerhouses such as Goran Ivanisevic and Pete Sampras, also known as ‘Pistol Pete.’ Ivanisevic had a reputation for his first serves, averaging 214 kmh (133 mph) consistently.

One of the greats in the Open Era, Novak Djokovic – the Serb, in 2023, kept his pace of serve at an average of 193 km/h (120.1 mph), slower by 32 km/h (20 mph) than Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard at Wimbledon 2024. Yet 2023 gave Djokovic seven titles and his best season since 2016 due to his overall game supremacy.

John Isner leads the pack in the ATP Tour’s history, unleashing a 250 km/h (155 mph) cannonball at Hubert Hurkacz – not too shabby a server himself – at the Citi Open in Washington in 2019. An honourable mention is Australian Sam Groth, who let fly a 263 km/h (163 mph) serve on the Challenger circuit at a 2012 event in Busan, South Korea.

So, who are the players with the privilege of being the quickest servers in the history of Grand Slams?

5. Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard – 225 km/h (140 mph) – Wimbledon 2024

Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard was the surprise package at Wimbledon this year, reaching the Round of 16 as a lucky loser. He made the most of it by defeating Sebastian Korda, Yoshihito Nishioka and Emil Ruusuvuori at the 2024 edition. The 6’8” Frenchman entered the second week at SW19 with 105 aces in the bag and service speeds reaching 225 kmh (140 mph). His height makes him the tallest inside the ATP Top 100.

The genial Frenchman’s serve helped him save 11 breakpoints even against Korda in a deluge of 51 aces in his five-set upset of the American. The No. 20 seed crashed to a 7-6 (5), 6-7 (4), 7-6 (6), 6-7 (4), 6-3 to Perricard in their first career meeting. His net approaches (37/57) gave Perricard a success percentage of 65%.

Mainly active on the Challenger Tour, Perricard reached the quarter-finals at the ATP 250 event in Antwerp last season. In 2024, he picked up his first tour-level title in Lyon, defeating Tomas Martin Etcheverry for the big prize.

Perricard has collected 343 aces since making his ATP Tour debut, with 275 in the ongoing season – an 80% boost over last year’s effort.

4. Taylor Fritz – 226 km/h (141 mph) – 2020 US Open

Taylor Fritz’s enters the list with an 226 km/h (141 mph) serve he conjured up in the third round at the 2020 US Open. It was the fastest serve of the tournament and came in the course of his second round win over Frenchman Simon Gilles, 7-5, 6-3, 6-2.

Fritz accumulated 333 aces in the 2020 season from a career total of 4194. His largest haul of aces was in 2023 – when he gathered an impressive 692 aces.

Also Read: Top 10 fastest serves in men’s tennis history

The American sits fourth among the serves leaders just below the big-serving Pole, Hubert Hurkacz. Having served up 538 aces in 2024, Fritz is on his way to getting past his haul of the 2023 season. He has some catching up to do with Hurkacz, who is sitting on a collection of 669 aces.

3. Nick Kyrgios – 230 km/h (143 mph) – 2019 Wimbledon

When Nick Kyrgios walked onto the court for his second round match at Wimbledon 2019, he could not find a way past Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard had arrived at SW19, having picked up his 12th Roland-Garros title the previous month.

While he had beaten Nadal in Acapulco earlier that year, Kyrgios headed for second round exits at consecutive events after his SW19 loss. The Aussie had lost to Felix Auger-Aliassime at Queen’s Club before losing to Nadal – the scoreline at Wimbledon reading 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (3).

Despite his defeat, Kyrgios will be remembered for his thunderbolt serve, clocking 230 km/h (143 mph) in the eighth game of the first set, leaving Nadal to look in disbelief as the ball whistled past him.

Kyrgios stitched together 597 aces that year out of a career total of 4529. In 2022, he served 747 aces – the most in a calendar year. 

2. Ben Shelton – 240 km/h (149 mph) – 2023 US Open

Like his countryman, Andy Roddick before him, Ben Shelton rattled the radar gun twice when setting a personal best for the fastest serve. At the 2023 US Open, he unleashed not one but two quick serves. His serve was clocked at 240 km/h (149 mph).

Shelton dished out both against countryman Tommy Paul in the fourth round, whom he went on to defeat 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. He got the better of Frances Tiafoe to make the semi-finals, but lost to Novak Djokovic.

The young American, Ben Shelton is responsible for one of the quickest serves of 2024 – clocking 241 km/h (150 mph) at the 2024 edition of the Indian Wells Masters. 

The current World No. 13 wrapped up the 2023 season with 505 aces and has crossed the threshold of 1000 aces in 2024 with a haul of 1026.

1. Andy Roddick – 245 km/h (152 mph) – 2004 US Open

In 2004, Andy Roddick gave the crowd at Flushing Meadows something to cheer about when he unleashed two big serves at the tournament, pushing the needle at 245 km/h (152 mph). Roddick, or “A-Rod” as he is also known, had won the US Open title a year before against Juan Carlos Ferrero in straight sets.

The first of the serves was during his opening round 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 win over wildcard and American teenager Scoville Jenkins. The second was during his 6-0, 6-3, 6-4 victory in the next round against another teenager – Rafael Nadal, who was unseeded at the event.

Roddick’s record holds even two decades later as the quickest serve at Flushing Meadows, with Ben Shelton coming close in 2023. The American notched up 1017 aces in 2004 among a career total of 9074.

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