What is the fastest tennis serve ever recorded?
We will delve into the topic of tennis’s fastest serves and take a closer look at the quickest serves ever recorded by both male and female tennis players.
Surprisingly, when it comes to the fastest tennis serve ever recorded, we don’t hear the names of the tennis players who currently lead the sport, either in the male or female category.
Indeed, those super-fast serves don’t guarantee a tennis hotshot, but they are certainly impressive to watch. Let’s look at the sport’s fastest serves ever recorded, along with who recorded them.
Who recorded the fastest tennis serve ever?
On May 9, 2012, Australian Sam Groth hit the world’s fastest serve of the day at 263.4 km/h (163.7 mph) in Busan, South Korea. This serve happened during his second-round match against the Belarussian Uladzimir Ignatik, which Groth lost 4-6, 3-6.
While no one has ever beaten the Australian’s record, France’s Albano Olivetti’s serve was the closest to Groth’s, at 257.5 km/h (160.0 mph). Olivetti hit that serve the same year, during the first round of the 2012 Internazionali Trofeo Lame Perrel–Faip.
American John Isner comes in third, with a speedy serve at 253.0 km/h (157.2 mph)
Here’s a video compilation of all these players’ fastest serves, in addition to Ivo Karlović's, who comes in fifth place right after Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, whose serve is at 252.0 km/h (156.6 mph).
What is the fastest female tennis serve ever recorded?
As for women’s tennis, the fastest female serve ever recorded was by Spain’s Georgina Garcia Pérez in the final round of the 2018 Hungarian Ladies Open: 220 km/h (136.7 mph).
Following the Spanish comes the Belarus native Aryna Sabalenka, who recorded the second fastest serve at 214 km/h (133.0 mph) at the 2018 WTA Elite Trophy.
Sabine Lisicki follows with a 210.8 km/h (131.0 mph) serve, measured during her first-round encounter against Ana Ivanovic at the 2014 Stanford Classic.
What is the fastest serve ever recorded at Wimbledon?
The fastest serve ever recorded at Wimbledon was in 2010 by the American Taylor Dent, who registered 238.2 km/h (148 mph). Fellow American Andy Roddick comes in second with a serve recorded at SW19 in 2004 at 235 km/h (146 mph). Following closely is Milos Raonic, who fired down the third-fastest serve in 2017 at 233.3 km/h (145 mph).