Tennis
Unleashing power: The fastest tennis serve ever recorded will blow your mind!
It’s been more than a decade since the fastest tennis serve and a little-known Australia still holds the record.

A strong serve is a key part of any player’s arsenal but the real power servers are rarely the best players in the world. Often, players with the characteristics needed to deliver a lightening serve - height, strength, mass - mean that the player will struggle with other parts of the game.
In the men’s game the likes of Andy Roddick, Greg Rusedski and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga have all found success with powerful serving but they are some way adrift of the record-holder, a little-known Australian who never broke the World Top 50.
Who holds the record for fastest men’s tennis serve?
Sam Groth spent 13 years as a professional tennis player, making it to the third round of the Australian Open and Wimbledon at the peak of his powers in 2015. He has since taken up a new career as a politician in Victoria but he also holds an impressive world record.
On May 9, 2012 Sam Groth served at 263.4 km/h (163.7 mph) at a tournament in Busan, South Korea. The record-setting effort came during a second round match against the Belarussian Uladzimir Ignatik, which Groth went on to lose 4-6, 3-6.
No one has yet beaten the Australian’s record, but a few have come close. France’s Albano Olivetti recorded a serve of 257.5 km/h (160.0 mph) at the 2012 Internazionali Trofeo Lame Perrel–Faip. American John Isner is in third with a serve of 253.0 km/h (157.2 mph) at the 2016 Davis Cup.
Who holds the record for fastest women’s tennis serve?
In the women’s game the record is held by a Spaniard, Georgina Garcia Pérez. Her highest-ever WTA Rankings was 124th but she still holds the distinction of being the fastest server in the history of women’s tennis. During the final round of the 2018 Hungarian Ladies Open, Garcia recorded a 220 km/h (136.7 mph) serve. However while she is generally acknowledged to hold the record her effort has not been verified by the WTA. Nevertheless she went on to win the doubles competition at that tournament with partner Fanny Stollár.Behind Garcia in the standings is Belarus native Aryna Sabalenka, who recorded a serve of 214 km/h (133.0 mph) at the 2018 WTA Elite Trophy. In third place is Sabine Lisicki with a 210.8 km/h (131.0 mph) serve during a first round encounter with Ana Ivanovic at the 2014 Stanford Classic.
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