The Greatest Servers in Tennis History

The serve is the only shot in tennis you fully control. This is a rarity in sport, and it shows why this shot might just be the most important in tennis.

If you can perfect it to a certain level, then it becomes a huge advantage. Read on as we breakdown just why the serve is such a crucial part of the game, before looking at the best servers in tennis history.

The serve has always been important, but it’s become increasingly so in recent times. It’s a shot that can basically win you the point regardless of whether it’s an ace, a service winner, or simply so good that the player returning can’t return the ball effectively.

Court speed has slowed down in recent years, making free points harder to find, so having a major serve is a good way to counter that. In general, though, it’s mostly about being able to win points without having to exert too much energy, and that’s just a huge bonus.

Considering that it is literally the only shot where the opponent has no effect makes it even more important. Plenty of players have seen their careers blossom after becoming good servers, so it’s just a fundamental part of modern tennis.

When it comes to the best servers in tennis history, the two main components of a great serve are speed and precision. The faster the ball comes at a player, the tougher it is to react accordingly.

The more precise the ball placement is, the more likely you will create a tougher angle, which will again result in a poor return.

It’s precisely because of these two things that very tall players generally have the best serves. They can generate more speed and also more precise angles.

Players like Ivo Karlovic and John Isner were notorious for this, because some of the angles they could create from their vantage point are impossible to counter.

Another understated thing is consistency with the serve. While having a powerful serve can be a great thing, if you only hit it every third attempt, then it won’t matter as much. One thing that has made Novak Djokovic so tough to play in recent years was his ability to generate quality serves consistently.

He never had the most power in it, but his consistency of hitting it with placement has been too good. The more consistent you are, the more likely you are to hit a good serve in critical points, as there is no better way to save a breakpoint than to ace it.

Personal style is certainly a factor when it comes to the serve, but for the most part, it’s more about sound technique. Each player has their own twist on it, but the fundamentals of a good serve remain constant.

There isn’t much innovation going on either because it’s generally accepted what makes a good serve and how to achieve it. The most innovation around a serve that you do see is when a player undergoes a bit of a tweak to their form, trying to make it better overall.

It doesn’t always look pretty, but if it works, then it works.

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1. Ivo Karlovic

Karlovic was known for his serve, and is widely known as one of the best servers in tennis history. This mostly came down to him being able to utilize his height to create incredible angles with enough power in it to make them impossible to return.

2. John Isner

Similar to Karlovic, Isner is exceptionally tall, which allowed him to master the serve. He combines a lot of power with incredible precision to put his opponents on the defensive immediately.

3. Goran Ivanisevic

Ivanisevic was a wild card in every sense because he often surprised opponents with his serve that combined lots of spin and variation. Being a lefty certainly allowed him to go for that wide-angle one, which is very hard to defend.

4. Pete Sampras

Sampras was one of the first players to master the second serve, making it incredibly hard to read, which, along with his deadly first serve, made him one of the toughest players in tennis history to return against.

5. Roger Federer

Federer was always noted for his exceptional placement and variety in the serve, keeping his opponents often guessing. If you guessed wrong, the placement of the ball was so perfect that you wouldn’t get much out of the point.

6. Andy Roddick

Roddick was known for his ability to hit incredibly powerful serves that often clocked close to record speed. He was also noted for his ability to deliver in high-pressure situations, making him really hard to counter.

7. Boris Becker

Becker was noted for his power and precision, which were a deadly combination along with his aggressive approach to the game.

8. Serena Williams

The only woman on this list deserves to be here because her serve elevated her well above her colleagues. Her consistency was particularly noted along with power that very few in women’s tennis were ever able to get close to.

9. Milos Raonic

Another exceptionally tall player who utilized his height to hit some incredible angles and the power he put into it. He’s also noted to have been exceptionally solid on all surfaces, making him a nightmare to play against.

10. Feliciano Lopez

Lopez was known for his spin-heavy serve and excellent placement, which made for a serve that was running away from you most of the time. That was very hard to return and prepare against.

One of the metrics used to determine great serves is the number of aces per match they serve. To serve an ace, you have to put enough power into it as well as find the right angle and place the ball precisely on the court.

It is, by definition, the perfect serve, winning you a point without the opponent ever getting close to hitting it. So, let’s take a look at some of the best marks in history when it comes to aces per match.

At the top is Ivo Karlovic, who is considered the best server of all time, hitting 19.8 aces per match for his entire career. John Isner is a close second with 18 aces per match for his entire career, as both of these marks seem absolutely insane.

Other notable players we mentioned above include Milos Raonic, who has 15 aces per match for his entire career, along with Goran Ivanisevic, who has 13.8 aces per match.

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When it comes to the hold rate of players, then again we have a couple of names we already mentioned above. Ivo Karlovic tops the list with a career rate of holding 91.97% of his service games, which is quite amazing.

John Isner is a close second, holding 91.84% of his service games, with Milos Raonic coming up as third with a 91.17% hold rate. Andy Roddick is famously fourth with a hold rate of 90%, and that’s quite amazing because he’s not as tall as these guys are, though still pretty tall at 188 cm.

Fifth on that list is Reilly Opelka, who is similar to the top three—another exceptionally tall player who utilizes his height.

The serve doesn’t have the same impact on all surfaces. On something like grass, it’s very effective because it might be the most important shot on that court. The ball slips on the grass, so the better you can serve, the less likely a player will be able to return.

It’s generally effective on hard courts as well, but it depends on what kind of court it is. If it’s very bouncy, it might not be as effective as lower-bouncing ones. On clay, it’s important in the sense that it can create great tempo in a rally.

It’s generally less effective than on other surfaces, though some clay courts like Madrid, which is at high elevation, make the serve even more important. Indoors is generally where serves rule, because there are no environmental factors to impact it. It’s like serves are in a vacuum.

One thing that has been rather prevalent in tennis recently is a lot of young players with massive serves. It’s not a huge surprise because most young players these days work really hard on their serve because it’s very important.

Some promising prodigies with massive serves include Jakub Mensik, who has already been called a serve-bot by some. Players like Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard are also superb servers, as the French player basically has two first serves due to his height and the power he can generate.

As Rafael Nadal famously said, the serve is only going to get better, which might be negative for the game overall. The sport has become very serve-focused, with rallies being shorter and shorter. Not everyone hates it, though, but there is a limit to that.

A serve can be great up to a point. It will never be enough, and even the tallest and best servers of all time still had to develop other parts of their game.

The serve is the most important shot in tennis, and it’s getting more important with every day. You can’t have a successful tennis career these days without a good serve. Players are playing very aggressive tennis, and weak serves are routinely punished.

It’s the only shot you can fully control, so it will always remain the most important shot in tennis. What the future holds is impossible to know, but it’s been amazing to watch how much the shot has developed, and how great it has been in the past in the hands of the best servers in tennis history.