Who Has the Fastest Recorded Serve in Men's Tennis?

In the game of tennis, having a powerful serve can be an excellent part of a player's arsenal. The best player's use their serve to dictate the pace of the match, and the ability to smash aces can tip the momentum of a match quickly.

There have been a number of powerful servers in men's tennis, 

Andy Roddick (USA): 155 MPH

Andy Roddick was always viewed as one of the game's most powerful servers (while also being known for occasional meltdowns). He hit a rocket in his first-round Davis Cup matchup against Vladimir Voltchkov. The serve was in the final set to close out the match and had the crowd on their feet as Roddick hit the ace.

Milos Raonic (CAN): 155.3 MPH

Milos Raonic is one of the hardest hitters in tennis, so it comes as no surprise that he makes our list. The Canadian hit his crowd-pleasing ace in the 2012 Rogers Cup, with a deflated opponent just shaking his head at the experience.

Jerzy Janowicz (POL): 156 MPH

Jerzy Janowicz had a number of excellent aces in the 2012 Pekao Szczecin Open matchup. None was more crowd-pleasing than the 156 MPH shot he hit in the opening round of the tournament. Janowicz had success in the mid-2010s, but hasn't been present at a major for the last two years.

Ivo Karlović (HRV): 156 MPH

In a 2011 doubles matchup during the Davis Cup between Croatia and Germany, Karlovic hit our No. 4 fastest serve ever recorded.

Croatia was already up a set and the serve gave them a chance to even up the second set at one a piece. Karlovic is considered one of the best tennis servers of all time. He holds the all-time record for most career aces, with 13,402. He is also one of only four players to reach the 10,000 aces mark for their career.

John Isner (USA): 157.2 MPH

You know a list of powerful serves wouldn't be complete without including John Isner. For years Isner has been one of the best servers in tennis. He currently sits second all-time behind Karlovic in career aces with 11,432.

Isner was also a part of the longest professional match in tennis history, using his powerful serve in 2010 at Wimbledon, going 11 hours and five minutes in a win over Nicolas Mahut. His fastest serve came in a 2016 Davis cup match. 

Albano Olivetti (FRA): 160 MPH

For our top two servers, we crank things up by a few miles per hour. Albano Olivetti is an up-and-coming tennis star that doesn't shy away from his powerful game. At 27 years old we could be looking at someone who can crack the 10,000 career aces mark when his career is finished. He served up the 160 MPH ace at the 2012 Internazionali Trofeo Lame Perrel–Faip.

Sam Groth (AUS): 163. 4 MPH

If you blinked you missed it. That's the best way we can explain Sam Groth's record-breaking serve. As we stated a few moments ago, going from John Isner's 157 MPH serve to Groth's 163.4 MPH serve has a stark difference to the naked eye. Groth delivered the ace to hold off a match point at the 2012 Busan Open, but would ultimately fall to Uladzimir Ignatik in two sets.

Records are meant to be broken

After looking at the list of the fastest recorded tennis serves, is there anyone on the ATP tour that can crack the list? Our money is on the brash Nick Kyrgios, who recently lost to Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon. Check out our home page for more exciting tennis news as we get ready for the final rounds of Wimbledon!