We recently wrote an article about the best servers in 2024 and of course this leads us to… what are what are the fastest tennis serves ever recorded? What man has the fastest serve in tennis and which current player serves the fastest?
We all know that the serve is one of the most important weapons in any tennis players game and while the precision and spin can be very effective, a very fast serve can make life very easy for you on the court.
Constant improvements in training techniques and racquet technology, pushes the boundaries even more of how fast it’s possible to serve in tennis.
Below we’ll present stats of the fastest tennis serves ever recorded on tour, both for men and women, along with the actual serving speeds. We’ll also cover the serve speeds of a few of the top players today.
Top Fastest Tennis Serves Ever
As always with these kind of lists, it’s never really straight-forward what is an “official” record, as not all of these shots are approved as an ATP record for instance. This can be due to the fact that various serve speed tracking equipments are used at lower level tournaments that not are approved by the ATP tour.
Anyhow, let’s have a look at the fastest ever recorded tennis serves, as we know. Men followed by the women.
1. Sam Groth
163.7 mph (263.4 km/h)
Australian player Sam Groth hit the fastest tennis serve ever recorded in South Korea, at the 2012 Busan Open Challenger Tennis.
Groth is known for his consistent strong serves, we saw his serves at the 2016 Mercedes Cup ourselves!
However… As the standards of serve-speed guns at challenger events are not fully approved, this record is not officially recognized by the Association of Tennis Professionals.
2. Albano Olivetti
160 mph (257.5 km/h)
Second on the list, the fast serve from Albano Olivetti at the 2012 Internazionali Trofeo Lame Perrel-Faip. Even this serve is not officially recognized by ATP due to the same reason.
3. John Isner
157.2 mph (253.0 km/h)
Due to the reasons above, American John Isner actually holds the ATP official record for the fastest serve, at the 2016 Davis Cup, with this incredible serve of 157.2 mph or 253 km/h.
4. Ivo Karlovic
156.0 mph (251.1 km/h)
It was at a doubles match during the 2011 Davis Cup that Ivo Karlovic managed this insane serve, which was a new record at the time.
4. Jerzy Janowicz
156 mph (251 km/h)
Polish player Jerzy Janowicz managed this record serve at the 2012 Pekao Szczecin Open, this is yet another one not fully approved by the ATP.
6. Milos Raonic
155.3 mph (250.0 km/h)
Raonic is well known for his powerful serves, and we are many that remember this record at the 2012 SAP Open.
7. Andy Roddick
155.0 mph (249.4 km/h)
Yet another one at Davis Cup, back in 2004, Andy Roddick’s fantastic serve of 155.0 mph showed his amazing serve skills.
WTA Fastest Serves
Spanish player Georgina Garcia Perez produced a real monster serve at the qualifiers second round at the Hungarian Ladies Open back in 2018. The serve measured 136.7 mph or 220 km/h but it was unfortunately not at a main draw level of the WTA tour and therefore not recognised officially.
Same goes for the second fastest serve by Aryna Sabalenka at the 2018 WTA Elite Trophy (133 mph or 214 km/h). Instead, the “officially” fastest serve among women is held by Germany’s Sabine Lisicki, a 131 mph (210.8 km/h) serve made at the 2014 Stanford Classic.
The WTA doesn’t keep official serve speed rankings at all its events, mainly because the technology isn’t consistent enough or at some events they don’t measure serve speed at all.
1. Georgina Garcia Perez
136.7 mph (220 km/h)
2. Aryna Sabalenka
133 mph (214 km/h)
3. Sabine Lisicki
131.0 mph (210.8 km/h)
4. Venus Williams
129 mph (207.6 km/h)
4. Alycia Parks
129 mph (207.6 km/h)
What is the Average Serve Speed?
The above numbers doesn’t really tell you much about how fast it actually is… For some context, an average tennis serve (first serve we’re talking about here) usually measures around 120 mph or 200 km/h for men and 105 mph or 175 km/h for women on the tour.
Who Serves Fast in 2024?
So which of the current players on tour serves really fast?
While we don’t have any official list of the current year, here are a few serves that will be remembered.
Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard is truly making a name for himself as a super server with really strong ground strokes. Perricard had the fastest serve speed at the 2024 Wimbledon, recording at 140 mph.
Serving equally fast, American Ben Shelton produced a 140 mph serve at the same tournament, see video below.
Among the semifinalists at the Australian Open, Alexander Zverev served the fastest at 135.5 mph or 218 km/h.
Other fun serve stats
- The fastest serve made by a left-handed layer – 156 mph by Borna Coric, 156 mph or 251 km/h
- Youngest player to manage a serve over 125 mph (201.2 km/h) – Venus Williams, 15 years old!
- Fastest serve by a Junior Male Player – Rudolf Molleker, 134 mph or 215.7 km/h
