Who are some of the tallest players in professional tennis? And shortest?

Height plays a big role in many professional sports, with taller athletes usually having a natural advantage. In the NBA, the average height of players is 6 feet 6 inches. In the National Football league, it’s 6 feet 2 inches.This is significantly taller than the global average for men, which is 5 feet and 7.5 inches.

Tall men also excel in tennis- the average height of the top 500 men’s tennis players is 6 feet 2 inches, with Rafael Nadal, Daniil Medvedev, Carlos Alcaraz, and Novak Djokovic all measuring over 6 feet tall.

Here are some men’s professional tennis players who stand a little taller than the rest.

Reilly Opelka

One advantage of taller tennis players is that they can deliver powerful and very fast serves, and American Reilly Opelka proves just that. Standing at 6 feet 11 inches, the 25-year-old is one of the two tallest ATP-ranked players in the sport’s history, and can hand out serves in the low 140 mph range. The junior Wimbledon champion is currently ranked 112 in the world although he has reached World No. 17 for singles in ATP rankings.

Ivo Karlovic

Tied with Opelka for the tallest player in ATP tour history is retired player Ivo Karlovic, who is also 6 feet 11 inches tall. Like the American, the former player from Croatia delivered very quick serves, using his height to full advantage. He once clocked in at 156 mph, one of the fastest serves on the ATP’s official records. The 44-year-old was ranked World No. 14 in 2008.

John Isner

Another American is high up on the list of tall tennis players. John Isner measures 6 feet 10 inches, second only to Opelka and Karlovic. He currently holds ATP’s official record of fastest serve at 157.2 mph, which he delivered at the 2011 Davis Cup. The 37-year-old reached No. 8 in World rankings, and has accumulated more than $22 million in tournament winnings.

On the other side of the measuring tape are the shorter players who have managed to succeed in tennis despite not having the advantage of height. The current players who hold the record in this respect are Diego Schwartzman, Yoshihito Nishioka, and Sebastian Baez who all measure in at 5 feet 7 inches.

Olivier Rochus

The shortest professional tennis player to win a major is retired player Olivier Rochus, whose biggest achievement in the sport is winning the 2004 French Open doubles title with Xavier Malisse. The Belgian stands at 5 feet 6 inches, the shortest recorded height on the ATP World Tour. The highest ranking he ever reached was No. 24 in singles.

Rod Laver

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One of the greatest tennis players of all time, Rod Laver didn’t need the benefit of height to become the only person in the history of tennis to achieve the elusive Grand Slam two times- in 1962 and 1969. Standing at 5′8″, he managed to collect 198 singles titles, which is the largest number ever. The Australian was known for his versatility, excelling on whatever kind of court surface he played on.

Michael Chang

At 5′9″, Michael Chang became the youngest male player to ever become champion of a Grand Slam event, winning the French Open at 17 years of age. He achieved the ranking of World No. 2 in 1996, and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2008. The American developed a defensive style of play that made use of his agility and speed to defeat taller opponents.