Ace (tennis)

In tennis, an ace is a legal serve that is not touched by the receiver, winning the point for the server.[1] In professional tennis, aces are generally seen on a player's first serve, where the server can strike the ball with maximum force and take more chances with ball placement, such as the far corners of the service box.[2] According to the International Tennis Hall of Fame, this term was coined by the sports journalist Allison Danzig.[3]

Professional singles records

Aces have been officially recorded by the top-level professional tennis circuits since 1991,[4] so these records start at that time.

Only main draw singles matches are included here.

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

ATP Tour
John Isner holds the professional records for most aces in a match Wimbledon 2010, an entire tournament Wimbledon 2018, and also first on the most aces in career list .

John Isner has the most aces in a tournament with 214 during the 2018 Wimbledon,[5] and he has the most in a single match with 113 during his 11-hour encounter with Nicolas Mahut in 2010. John Isner has served the most aces with 14,470.[6][7]

Ivo Karlović has the most in a best-of-three-set match with 45 at Halle in 2015.[8] Two weeks later, during Wimbledon, he became the only player to hit at least 40 aces in three consecutive matches.[9]

Goran Ivanišević has the most in a single season with 1,477 in 1996.[10] He also has the second most in a tournament with 213 when he won the 2001 Wimbledon title.[5]

Roger Federer hit 50 aces in the 2009 Wimbledon final, the record for a Grand Slam final.[11] He is also third on the career list.[6]

Aces
See also: ATP Tour records § Aces
No.Career aces[12][13]
14,470United States John Isner
13,728Croatia Ivo Karlović
11,478Switzerland Roger Federer
10,261Spain Feliciano López
10,237Croatia Goran Ivanišević
9,074United States Andy Roddick
8,879United States Sam Querrey
8,858United States Pete Sampras
8,342Canada Milos Raonic
8,138Croatia Ivan Ljubičić
No.Aces in a seasonYear
1,477Croatia Goran Ivanišević1996
1,447Croatia Ivo Karlović2015
1,318Croatia Ivo Karlović2007
1,260United States John Isner2015
1,213United States John Isner2018
1,185Croatia Ivo Karlović2014
1,159United States John Isner2016
1,156Croatia Goran Ivanišević1994
1,131Croatia Ivo Karlović2016
1,123United States John Isner2017

Top 10 most aces served in a match
No.PlayerW/LOpponentRoundEventSetsSurface Ref.
113United States John IsnerWFrance Nicolas Mahut1R2010 Wimbledon5Grass [14]
103France Nicolas MahutLUnited States John Isner
78Croatia Ivo KarlovićLCzech Republic Radek ŠtěpánekSF2009 Davis Cup5Clay
75Croatia Ivo KarlovićWArgentina Horacio Zeballos1R2017 Australian Open5Hard
67United States Reilly OpelkaLItaly Thomas Fabbiano2R2019 Australian Open5Hard
64United States John IsnerWBelgium Ruben Bemelmans2R2018 Wimbledon5Grass
61Croatia Ivo KarlovićWChinese Taipei Lu Yen-Hsun1R2016 US Open5Hard
Croatia Ivo KarlovićLGermany Jan-Lennard Struff2R2018 Wimbledon5Grass
59Croatia Ivo KarlovićLJapan Kei Nishikori2R2019 Australian Open5Hard
56France Albano OlivettiLAustralia Matthew Barton1R2016 Wimbledon5Grass [15]

Most aces in a US Open match
No. PlayerW/LOpponentRound EventSurfaceRef.
61 Croatia Ivo KarlovićWChinese Taipei Lu Yen-hsun1R 2016 US OpenHard[16]
52 United States John IsnerLUnited States Steve Johnson1R 2020 US Open
49 Netherlands Richard KrajicekLRussia Yevgeny KafelnikovQF 1999 US Open
South Africa Kevin Anderson W Czech Republic Jiří Veselý1R 2021 US Open
48 Kazakhstan Alexander BublikWItaly Thomas Fabbiano2R 2019 US Open
United States John Isner L United States Michael Mmoh2R 2023 US Open [17]

Most aces in a clay-court tournament

* Note: This marked the third time that Isner had hit 100+ aces in a clay-court tournament.

No. Player Event Surface Ref.
124 Netherlands Martin Verkerk 2003 French Open Clay [18]
110 United States John Isner 2014 French Open
108 Germany Michael Stich 1996 French Open
107 United States John Isner 2021 Madrid Open
101 United States John Isner 2017 Rome

Most aces in a one-week tournament
No.PlayerEventSurfaceRef.
156United States Reilly Opelka2019 New York OpenHard[19]
144United States John Isner2007 Legg Mason Tennis Classic[4]

Most aces served in a three-set match
No. Player W/L Opponent Round Event Surface Ref.
45Croatia Ivo KarlovićWCzech Republic Tomáš BerdychQF2015 HalleGrass[20]
44Australia Mark PhilippoussisWZimbabwe Byron Black2R1995 Kuala LumpurCarpet (i)[21]
Croatia Ivo Karlović W Germany Daniel Brands 1R 2014 Zagreb Hard (i)
Australia Nick Kyrgios W United States Ryan Harrison 1R 2019 Brisbane Hard [22]
United States John Isner L China Wu Yibing F 2023 Dallas Open [23]
43 United States Mardy Fish L Belgium Olivier Rochus 2R 2007 Lyon [21]
United States Reilly Opelka W United States John Isner SF 2019 New York [4]
United States Reilly Opelka W Canada Branden Schnur F
40 Croatia Goran Ivanišević W Sweden Magnus Norman 1R 1997 Zagreb Carpet (i) [21]

Most combined aces in a three-set match
No. Player W/L Opponent Round Event Surface Ref.
81 United States Reilly Opelka W United States John Isner SF 2019 New York Hard [24][25]
71 Australia Nick Kyrgios W United States Ryan Harrison 1R 2019 Brisbane [22]

Most consecutive aces
No.PlayerW/LOpponentRoundEventSurfaceRef.
10United States Sam QuerreyWUnited States James BlakeQF2007 IndianapolisHard[26][27]
8Czech Republic Radek ŠtěpánekWBelgium Christophe RochusF2006 RotterdamHard (i)[28]
7Germany Michael StichWFrance Guy ForgetSF1993 Hopman CupHard[29]
United States Andy RoddickWNetherlands Sjeng SchalkenQF2003 US Open[30]
United States Andy RoddickLAustralia Lleyton HewittSF2005 Australian Open[31][32]
Chile Fernando GonzálezWSweden Joachim Johansson3R2005 WimbledonGrass[33]
Spain Feliciano LópezLCzech Republic Tomáš Berdych2R2013 ShanghaiHard[34]
Croatia Ivo KarlovićWRussia Mikhail Youzhny1R2014 HalleGrass[35]
Switzerland Roger FedererWAustralia James DuckworthQF2015 BrisbaneHard[36]
United States Sam QuerreyWItaly Thomas FabbianoSF2019 EastbourneGrass[37]

Serving five consecutive aces from 0–40 down
PlayerW/LOpponentRoundEventSurfaceRef.
Germany Boris BeckerWUkraine Andriy MedvedevF1995 Hopman CupHard[38]
United States John IsnerLFrance Édouard Roger-VasselinSF2013 Delray Beach[39]
United States John IsnerWCzech Republic Jiří Veselý3R2015 US Open[40]
United States Reilly OpelkaWSpain Roberto Bautista AgutQF2019 BaselHard (i)[41]

Most aces without a double fault
No. Player W/L Opponent Round Event Surface Ref.
49 United States John Isner W Australia Bernard Tomic 1R 2016 Davis Cup Grass [42]
39 United States Reilly Opelka W United States John Isner SF 2022 Dallas Open Hard [43]
37 United States John Isner W Poland Jerzy Janowicz 1R 2016 Australian Open [14]
34 Croatia Ivo Karlović W Chile Nicolás Massú 1R 2007 Stockholm Hard (i)
33 United States Andy Roddick W Chile Fernando González 4R 2010 Australian Open Hard
31 Russia Marat Safin W United States Andre Agassi SF 2004 Australian Open [44][45]

Seasons with 1000+ aces

No.PlayerYears Ref.
7United States John Isner2010, 12, 15–19 [46][47]
4Croatia Goran Ivanišević1994, 96–98 [48]
Croatia Ivo Karlović2007, 14–16
2Canada Milos Raonic2012, 14 [48][49]
South Africa Kevin Anderson2015, 18 [46][50]
1United States Pete Sampras1993 [51]
United States Andy Roddick2004 [48]
United States Reilly Opelka2019 [52]
Poland Hubert Hurkacz2023 [53]

Most seasons finished as ace leader

No. Player Years
8 United States John Isner 2010, 12–13, 16–19, 22
6 Croatia Goran Ivanišević 1992, 94, 96–98, 2001
5 Croatia Ivo Karlović 2007–09, 14–15
3 United States Andy Roddick 2003–05
2 United States Pete Sampras 1993, 95
1 France Guy Forget 1991
Netherlands Richard Krajicek 1999
Russia Marat Safin 2000
Australia Wayne Arthurs 2002
Croatia Ivan Ljubičić 2006
France Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 2011
Canada Milos Raonic 2020
Kazakhstan Alexander Bublik 2021
Poland Hubert Hurkacz 2023

WTA Tour

Serena Williams holds the record for most aces in a tournament with 102 en route to winning the 2012 Wimbledon title.[54]

Karolína Plíšková has the most aces in a single season with 530 in 2016,[55] which broke her own record of 517 in 2015.[56] She has also served the most aces in a match on clay, with 21 in her second round victory over Jeļena Ostapenko at Stuttgart in 2021.[57]

Most aces in a match

There have been 32 matches played in which a player has served 20 or more aces, since 2008.[58]

No.PlayerW/LOpponentRoundEventSetsSurface Ref.
31Czech Republic Kristýna PlíškováLPuerto Rico Monica Puig2R2016 Australian Open3Hard [58]
28Czech Republic Kristýna PlíškováLPuerto Rico Monica Puig2R2019 Luxembourg3Hard (i)
27Germany Sabine LisickiWSwitzerland Belinda Bencic2R2015 Birmingham2Grass
France Caroline GarciaLChina Zhang Shuai2R2022 Tokyo3Hard [59]
24 Estonia Kaia KanepiWCzech Republic Lucie Šafářová1R2008 Tokyo3Hard [60]
United States Serena WilliamsWBelarus Victoria AzarenkaSF2012 Wimbledon2Grass [58]
Czech Republic Kristýna PlíškováWCzech Republic Karolína Plíšková2R2019 Birmingham3
Czech Republic Karolína PlíškováWUnited States Amanda Anisimova2R2021 US Open3Hard[61][62]
Canada Rebecca MarinoLFrance Caroline Garcia2R2022 Guadalajara Open Akron3Hard [63]
23United States Serena WilliamsWChina Zheng Jie3R2012 Wimbledon3Grass[58]
Czech Republic Kristýna PlíškováLFrance Océane Dodin1R2016 Linz3Hard (i)
22Netherlands Brenda SchultzWCroatia Iva MajoliQF1994 Birmingham3Grass [64]
United States Meghann ShaughnessyLCzech Republic Nicole VaidišováF2005 Memphis2Hard (i) [65]
Australia Alicia MolikLUnited States Venus WilliamsQF2007 Tokyo2Hard
Russia Ekaterina AlexandrovaWUnited States Kristie AhnQF 2019 Seoul3[58]
Belgium Alison Van UytvanckLUnited States Sofia KeninSF2020 Lyon3

Seasons with 500+ aces
No.PlayerYears Ref.
2Czech Republic Karolína Plíšková2015–2016 [66][55]

Half-ace

In 1999, the Swedish artist and writer Kjell Höglund proposed a term for when an opponent manages to hit the ball without it actually entering into play. He suggested it should be called a "half-ace".[67]

See also

References
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