Hitting a strong tennis serve gives players a great advantage when facing their opponents. It is possible to encounter kabaddi live scoreboard & updates along with the real life features on its tennis section.
For this reason, serving in a way that is fast but at the same accurate is a must for all of those who want to have good chances of winning a match.
There are some players who are so good in hitting serves that their speeds are measured and later saved in different records. The website has live scoreboards & updates for kabaddi, tennis and multiple other sports, and in the case of tennis, they also feature serve speeds.
Unreliable records
An impressive serve with a speed of 246,2 km/h was made by Roscoe Tanner in 1978. However, the equipment used to measure that serve was not reliable enough in order to consider it as a valid occurrence.
45 years before Tanner’s record, in Wimbledon’s 1932 edition it was claimed that Ellsworth Vines had hit a serve with a speed of 194,7 km/h. However, it is not really known how this speed was measured in the first place.
Some unreliable records have even been seen in the modern day. For example, a radar measurement showed that John Isner had a serve with a speed of 4,718 km/h (no, we didn’t mistype that). Obviously it is not accurate, since this ball would have been much faster than even a rifle bullet.
Serves recorded by the ATP
Yet, there are many serves that were recorded in a reliable manner. The fastest serves ever recorded are:
- John Isner, with a speed of 253 km/h;
- Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, with a speed of 252 km/h;
- Ivo Karlović, with a speed of 251 km/h;
- Milos Raonic, with a speed of 249,9 km/h;
- and Andy Roddick, with a speed of 249,4 km/h.
In general, having a fast serve is extremely useful for any player. This is because it forces the opponent to adopt a much more defensive stance. Additionally, a player might be able to respond to such fast serves. However, he will most likely struggle to be ready for the next ball.
| Rank | Country | Player | Speed | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australia | Sam Groth | 263.0 km/h (163.4 mph) | 2012 Busan Open Challenger Tennis |
| 2 | France | Albano Olivetti | 257.5 km/h (160.0 mph) | 2012 Internazionali Trofeo Lame Perrel–Faip |
| 3 | United States | John Isner | 253.0 km/h (157.2 mph) | 2016 Davis Cup |
| 4 | Spain | Alejandro Davidovich Fokina | 252.0 km/h (156.6 mph) | 2022 Italian Open[dubious – discuss] |
| 5 | Croatia | Ivo Karlović | 251.0 km/h (156.0 mph) | 2011 Davis Cup |
| 6 | Poland | Jerzy Janowicz | 251.0 km/h (156.0 mph) | 2012 Pekao Szczecin Open |
| 7 | Canada | Milos Raonic | 249.9 km/h (155.3 mph) | 2012 SAP Open |
| 8 | Australia | Andy Roddick | 249.4 km/h (155.0 mph) | 2004 Davis Cup |
| 9 | Australia | Chris Guccione | 248.0 km/h (154.1 mph) | 2006 Davis Cup |
| 10 | Sweden | Joachim Johansson | 244.6 km/h (152.0 mph) | 2004 Davis Cup |
| 10 | Sweden | Ryan Harrison | 244.6 km/h (152.0 mph) | 2013 Western & Southern Open |
| 10 | Spain | Feliciano López | 244.6 km/h (152.0 mph) | 2014 Aegon Championships |