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.
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH | 
FRef
ATP Tour

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
| 
 | 
 | 
Top 10 most aces served in a match
| # | Player | W/L | Opponent | Round | Event | Sets | Surface | Ref. | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 113 |  John Isner | W |  Nicolas Mahut | 1R | 2010 Wimbledon | 5 | Grass | [14] | 
| 103 |  Nicolas Mahut | L |  John Isner | |||||
| 78 |  Ivo Karlović | L |  Radek Štěpánek | SF | 2009 Davis Cup | 5 | Clay | |
| 75 |  Ivo Karlović | W |  Horacio Zeballos | 1R | 2017 Australian Open | 5 | Hard | |
| 67 |  Reilly Opelka | L |  Thomas Fabbiano | 2R | 2019 Australian Open | 5 | Hard | |
| 64 |  John Isner | W | .svg.png.webp) Ruben Bemelmans | 2R | 2018 Wimbledon | 5 | Grass | |
| 61 |  Ivo Karlović | W |  Lu Yen-Hsun | 1R | 2016 US Open | 5 | Hard | |
|  Ivo Karlović | L |  Jan-Lennard Struff | 2R | 2018 Wimbledon | 5 | Grass | ||
| 59 |  Ivo Karlović | L |  Kei Nishikori | 2R | 2019 Australian Open | 5 | Hard | |
| 56 |  Albano Olivetti | L | .svg.png.webp) Matthew Barton | 1R | 2016 Wimbledon | 5 | Grass | [15] | 
Most aces in a US Open match
| # | Player | W/L | Opponent | Round | Event | Surface | Ref. | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 61 |  Ivo Karlović | W |  Lu Yen-hsun | 1R | 2016 US Open | Hard | [16] | 
| 52 |  John Isner | L |  Steve Johnson | 1R | 2020 US Open | ||
| 49 |  Kevin Anderson | W |  Jiří Veselý | 1R | 2021 US Open | ||
|  Richard Krajicek | L |  Yevgeny Kafelnikov | QF | 1999 US Open | |||
| 48 |  John Isner | L |  Michael Mmoh | 2R | 2019 US Open | ||
|  Alexander Bublik | W |  Thomas Fabbiano | 2R | 2019 US Open | 
Most aces in a clay-court tournament
* Note: This marked the third time that Isner had hit 100+ aces in a clay-court tournament.
| # | Player | Event | Surface | Ref. | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 124 |  Martin Verkerk | 2003 French Open | Clay | [17] | 
| 110 |  John Isner | 2014 French Open | ||
| 108 |  Michael Stich | 1996 French Open | ||
| 107 |  John Isner | 2021 Madrid Open | ||
| 101 |  John Isner | 2017 Rome | 
Most aces in a one-week tournament
| # | Player | Event | Surface | Ref. | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 156 |  Reilly Opelka | 2019 New York Open | Hard | [18] | 
| 144 |  John Isner | 2007 Legg Mason Tennis Classic | [4] | 
Most aces served in a three-set match
| # | Player | W/L | Opponent | Round | Event | Surface | Ref. | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45 |  Ivo Karlović | W |  Tomáš Berdych | QF | 2015 Halle | Grass | [19] | 
| 44 | .svg.png.webp) Mark Philippoussis | W |  Byron Black | 2R | 1995 Kuala Lumpur | Carpet (i) | [20] | 
|  Ivo Karlović | W |  Daniel Brands | 1R | 2014 Zagreb | Hard (i) | ||
| .svg.png.webp) Nick Kyrgios | W |  Ryan Harrison | 1R | 2019 Brisbane | Hard | [21] | |
|  John Isner | L |  Wu Yibing | F | 2023 Dallas Open | [22] | ||
| 43 |  Mardy Fish | L | .svg.png.webp) Olivier Rochus | 2R | 2007 Lyon | [20] | |
|  Reilly Opelka | W |  John Isner | SF | 2019 New York | [23] | ||
|  Reilly Opelka | W | .svg.png.webp) Branden Schnur | F | [24] | |||
| 40 |  Goran Ivanišević | W |  Magnus Norman | 1R | 1997 Zagreb | Carpet (i) | [20] | 
Most combined aces in a three-set match
| # | Player | W/L | Opponent | Round | Event | Surface | Ref. | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 81 |  Reilly Opelka | W |  John Isner | SF | 2019 New York | Hard | [25][26] | 
| 71 | .svg.png.webp) Nick Kyrgios | W |  Ryan Harrison | 1R | 2019 Brisbane | [21] | 
Most consecutive aces
| # | Player | W/L | Opponent | Round | Event | Surface | Ref. | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 |  Sam Querrey | W |  James Blake | QF | 2007 Indianapolis | Hard | [27][28] | 
| 8 |  Radek Štěpánek | W | .svg.png.webp) Christophe Rochus | F | 2006 Rotterdam | Hard (i) | [29] | 
| 7 |  Michael Stich | W |  Guy Forget | SF | 1993 Hopman Cup | Hard | [30] | 
|  Andy Roddick | W |  Sjeng Schalken | QF | 2003 US Open | [31] | ||
|  Andy Roddick | L | .svg.png.webp) Lleyton Hewitt | SF | 2005 Australian Open | [32][33] | ||
|  Fernando González | W |  Joachim Johansson | 3R | 2005 Wimbledon | Grass | [34] | |
|  Feliciano López | L |  Tomáš Berdych | 2R | 2013 Shanghai | Hard | [35] | |
|  Ivo Karlović | W |  Mikhail Youzhny | 1R | 2014 Halle | Grass | [36] | |
| .svg.png.webp) Roger Federer | W | .svg.png.webp) James Duckworth | QF | 2015 Brisbane | Hard | [37] | |
|  Sam Querrey | W |  Thomas Fabbiano | SF | 2019 Eastbourne | Grass | [38] | 
Serving five consecutive aces from 0–40 down
| Player | W/L | Opponent | Round | Event | Surface | Ref. | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|  Boris Becker | W |  Andriy Medvedev | F | 1995 Hopman Cup | Hard | [39] | 
|  John Isner | L |  Édouard Roger-Vasselin | SF | 2013 Delray Beach | [40] | |
|  John Isner | W |  Jiří Veselý | 3R | 2015 US Open | [41] | |
|  Reilly Opelka | W |  Roberto Bautista Agut | QF | 2019 Basel | Hard (i) | [42] | 
Most aces without a double fault
| # | Player | W/L | Opponent | Round | Event | Surface | Ref. | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 49 |  John Isner | W | .svg.png.webp) Bernard Tomic | 1R | 2016 Davis Cup | Grass | [43] | 
| 39 |  Reilly Opelka | W |  John Isner | SF | 2022 Dallas Open | Hard | [44] | 
| 37 |  John Isner | W |  Jerzy Janowicz | 1R | 2016 Australian Open | [14] | |
| 34 |  Ivo Karlović | W |  Nicolás Massú | 1R | 2007 Stockholm | Hard (i) | |
| 33 |  Andy Roddick | W |  Fernando González | 4R | 2010 Australian Open | Hard | |
| 31 |  Marat Safin | W |  Andre Agassi | SF | 2004 Australian Open | [45][46] | 
| Seasons with 1000+ aces
 | Most seasons finished as ace leader
 | 
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]
| # | Player | W/L | Opponent | Round | Event | Sets | Surface | Ref. | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 |  Kristýna Plíšková | L |  Monica Puig | 2R | 2016 Australian Open | 3 | Hard | [58] | 
| 28 |  Kristýna Plíšková | L |  Monica Puig | 2R | 2019 Luxembourg | 3 | Hard (i) | |
| 27 |  Sabine Lisicki | W | .svg.png.webp) Belinda Bencic | 2R | 2015 Birmingham | 2 | Grass | |
|  Caroline Garcia | L |  Zhang Shuai | 2R | 2022 Tokyo | 3 | Hard | [59] | |
| 24 |  Kaia Kanepi | W |  Lucie Šafářová | 1R | 2008 Tokyo | 3 | Hard | [60] | 
|  Serena Williams | W |  Victoria Azarenka | SF | 2012 Wimbledon | 2 | Grass | [58] | |
|  Kristýna Plíšková | W |  Karolína Plíšková | 2R | 2019 Birmingham | 3 | |||
|  Karolína Plíšková | W |  Amanda Anisimova | 2R | 2021 US Open | 3 | Hard | [61][62] | |
| .svg.png.webp) Rebecca Marino | L |  Caroline Garcia | 2R | 2022 Guadalajara Open Akron | 3 | Hard | [63] | |
| 23 |  Serena Williams | W |  Zheng Jie | 3R | 2012 Wimbledon | 3 | Grass | [58] | 
|  Kristýna Plíšková | L |  Océane Dodin | 1R | 2016 Linz | 3 | Hard (i) | ||
| 22 |  Brenda Schultz | W |  Iva Majoli | QF | 1994 Birmingham | 3 | Grass | [64] | 
|  Meghann Shaughnessy | L |  Nicole Vaidišová | F | 2005 Memphis | 2 | Hard (i) | [65] | |
| .svg.png.webp) Alicia Molik | L |  Venus Williams | QF | 2007 Tokyo | 2 | Hard | ||
|  Ekaterina Alexandrova | W |  Kristie Ahn | QF | 2019 Seoul | 3 | [58] | ||
| .svg.png.webp) Alison Van Uytvanck | L |  Sofia Kenin | SF | 2020 Lyon | 3 | 
Seasons with 500+ aces
| # | Player | Years | Ref. | 
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 |  Karolína Plíšková | 2015–2016 | [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
- ↑ "Definition of ace | Dictionary.com". www.dictionary.com. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.
- ↑ "Tip of the Week - December 19, 2005 - Your Second Serve". Archived from the original on September 28, 2007.
- ↑ "Allison Danzig". International Tennis Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 4 June 2015.
- 1 2 "ATP Tennis Media Conference". www.asapsports.com. August 8, 2007. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.
- 1 2 "Five takeaways from Anderson's marathon win over Isner at Wimbledon". tennis.com. 13 July 2018. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.
- 1 2 "Ultimate Tennis Statistics - Aces". www.ultimatetennisstatistics.com. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.
- ↑ "Aces | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.
- ↑ "Karlovic beats Berdych with record 45 aces in Halle; Federer reaches semis". tennis.com. 19 June 2015. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.
- ↑ "Ivo Karlovic Strikes 41 Aces To Advance At Wimbledon". atptour.com. 4 July 2015. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.
- ↑ "Goran Ivanisevic - Player Stats - ATP Tour - Tennis". atptour.com. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.
- ↑ "Federer outlasts Roddick for record 15th Slam". ESPN.com. 5 July 2009. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.
- ↑ "Isner breaks all time record for most aces in tennis". Tennis Majors. July 2022. Archived from the original on 1 September 2022.
- ↑ "Aces | ATP Tour | Tennis".
- 1 2 "Tennis Records and Statistics". www.tennis-x.com. Archived from the original on 5 January 2022. Retrieved 2021-05-07.
- ↑ Pearce, Linda (2016-06-30). "Wimbledon 2016: Matthew Barton defeats Albano Olivetti in epic three-day match". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.
- ↑ "Kevin Anderson's Ace Parade: Former US Open Finalist Hits 49 Aces In Win | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.
- ↑ "Thiem On Isner's Serve: 'Like A Goalkeeper Facing A Penalty' | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour. 7 May 2021. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.
- ↑ "Reilly Opelka Wins New York Open Title | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour. 17 February 2019. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.
- ↑ "Karlovic beats Berdych with record 45 aces in Halle; Federer reaches semis". tennis.com. 19 June 2015. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.
- 1 2 3 Tennis-X.com (5 February 2014). "Most Aces Hit In A Tennis Match – Karlovic Fires 3-Set Record 44 In Zagreb [Chart]". www.tennix-x.com. Archived from the original on 27 July 2021. Retrieved 2023-02-14.
- 1 2 "Brisbane International: Sublime serving lifts Nick Kyrgios to first round win over Ryan Harrison". www.sportingnews.com. 1 January 2019. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.
- ↑ "Wu Yibing Becomes First Chinese ATP Tour Titlist In History | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour. 12 February 2023. Archived from the original on 2023-02-14. Retrieved 2023-02-14.
- ↑ "ATP Tennis Media Conference". www.asapsports.com. August 8, 2007. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.
- ↑ "ATP Tennis Media Conference". www.asapsports.com. August 8, 2007. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.
- ↑ "Just the 81 combined aces as Reilly Opelka outlasts John Isner". Tennis365. 2019-02-17. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.
- ↑ "Opelka, Isner set ace record en route to Opelka's first ATP final". Tennis.com. 17 February 2019. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.
- ↑ "Tennis record breaker Sam Querry shows how to serve quicker and smarter". www.telegraph.co.uk. 16 June 2011. Archived from the original on 17 June 2011.
- ↑ Sokolowski, Alexandre (2022-07-27). "July 27, 2007 : The day Sam Querrey served 10 aces in a row". Tennis Majors. Archived from the original on 2022-09-15.
- ↑ "Stepanek powers to first ATP title". edition.cnn.com. 26 February 2006. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.
- ↑ "Tennis: Germany cruise into final". Independent.co.uk. 8 January 1993. Archived from the original on 2015-07-15.
- ↑ Bodo, Peter. "Roddick-Hewitt, the Morning After". Tennis.com. Archived from the original on 2022-09-15.
- ↑ Fendrich, Howard (5 September 2003). "Agassi, Roddick move into U.S. Open semis". Montana Standard. Archived from the original on 2022-09-15.
- ↑  "Andy Roddick fires 7 aces in a row". www.youtube.com. 19 December 2020. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
- ↑ "El servicio de González opacó a Johansson en Wimbledon". www.alairelibre.cl/ (in Spanish). 24 June 2005. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.
- ↑ "Feliciano Lopez just hit 7 consecutive aces". Twitter. 9 October 2013. Archived from the original on 2022-09-15.
- ↑ Tomislav Poljak [@TomislavPoljak] (June 10, 2014). "7 aces in a row for Karlovic, 4 in the fourth game. 63 31 Ivo to the good" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 15 September 2022 – via Twitter.
- ↑ "Federer Demolishes Duckworth in Brisbane Quarter Final". www.perfect-tennis.com/. 9 January 2015. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.
- ↑ "Live – Fabbiano–Querrey, semifinale Atp Eastbourne 2019 (diretta)". www.sportface.it/ (in Italian). 28 June 2019. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.
- ↑ "T365 Recall: When Boris Becker served five aces in a row at 0-40 down". Tennis365.com. 2018-07-27. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.
- ↑ "Roger-Vasselin Upsets Top Seed Isner — Fox Sports". Fox Sports. 2 March 2013. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.
- ↑ "Isner unbroken, Vesely retires, Federer awaits - Official Site of the 2019 US Open Tennis Championships - A USTA Event". usopen.org. 2015-09-05. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.
- ↑ "ATP Basel: Reilly Opelka's 31 Aces Dent Roberto Bautista Agut's London Hopes | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour. 25 October 2019. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.
- ↑ "Isner vs Tomic 2016 Davis Cup First Round Drawsheet" (PDF). Davis Cup. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2016-04-05. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
- ↑ "John Isner – Reilly Opelka 0–2". livescore.in/tennis. Archived from the original on 2022-02-13. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
- ↑ Bierley, Stephen (2004-01-30). "Australian Open: Safin beats Agassi in five sets". the Guardian. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.
- ↑ "Agassi vs Safin Australian Open 2004". Youtube. 1 December 2019. Archived from the original on 2021-12-12.
- 1 2 "Isner Infosys Aces | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour. 28 October 2015. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.
- ↑ "John Isner Cracks 1000 Aces In 2019 | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour. 10 October 2019. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.
- 1 2 3 "Tennis; All about Aces". ritesh.misra. 2019-11-03. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.
- ↑ "Federer, Murray To Meet For 23rd Time". Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. Archived from the original on March 2, 2016. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
- ↑ "Top 10: The best servers of 2018 by unique metric - does Federer feature?". Tennis365. 2018-12-08. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.
- ↑ Allen, J. A. (18 February 2011). "Pete Sampras and the Top 25 Servers in the History of Men's Tennis". Bleacher Report. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.
- ↑ "Reilly Opelka Becomes the Eighth Player to Hit 1000 Aces in a Season". Tennis World USA. 30 October 2019. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.
- ↑ "Serena taken to 3 sets, wins 5th Wimbledon". ESPN.com. 2012-07-07. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.
- 1 2 "2016 – Serve Stats". WTA Tennis. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.
- ↑ "News | WTA Tennis English". Archived from the original on 2017-01-24. Retrieved 2017-01-27.
- ↑ "Pliskova aces Ostapenko challenge, Sabalenka storms past Friedsam in Stuttgart". WTA Tour. 22 April 2021. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Super servers: The most aces fired per match since 2008". Women's Tennis Association. Archived from the original on 14 May 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
- ↑ "Zhang saves match point to stun Garcia in Tokyo thriller". Women's Tennis Association. 21 September 2022. Archived from the original on 1 October 2022.
- ↑ "Tennis Records and Statistics". www.tennis-x.com. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.
- ↑ "Pliskova saves match point, sets US Open ace record to beat Anisimova; Andreescu advances". Women's Tennis Association. 2021-09-03. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.
- ↑ "US Open Day 2 by the numbers: Zheng's ace record, Pliskova's tiebreaks and more". Women's Tennis Association. 31 August 2021. Archived from the original on 1 October 2022.
- ↑ "WTA Match Stats". Women's Tennis Association. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
- ↑ "Tennis: Schultz trumps Majoli with a record 22 aces". The Independent. 2011-10-23. Archived from the original on 2014-11-25. Retrieved 2021-05-07.
- ↑ "Most aces in a singles match: WTA. 24 in two sets? So five sets would be 60? At near-par with ATP?". Tennis Planet.me. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.
- ↑ "2015 – Serve Stats". WTA Tennis. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.
- ↑ "Lugnare Vatten - Kjell Höglund". www.kjellhoglund.com. Retrieved 2022-08-29.


