Ace (tennis)

In tennis, an ace is a legal serve that is not touched by the receiver, winning the point.^[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 since 1991, so these records start at that time and include main draw matches only.

ATP Tour

John Isner holds the record for most aces in a professional tennis match

Goran Ivanišević holds the record for most aces in a tournament with 213 en route to winning the 2001 Wimbledon title.^[4] He also has the most in a single season with 1,477 in 1996,^[5] and he has the second-highest career total with 10,131.^[6]

Ivo Karlović has the most career aces with 11,572.^[6] He also holds the record for aces in a best-of-three-set match with 45 at Halle in 2015.^[7] Two weeks later, during Wimbledon, he became the only player to hit at least 40 aces in three consecutive matches.^[4]

Roger Federer hit 50 aces in the 2009 Wimbledon final, the record for a Grand Slam final.^[8] He is also third on the career list with 9,734.^[6]

Most aces in a match

#	Player	W/L	Opponent	Round	Event	Sets
113	John Isner	W	Nicolas Mahut	1R	2010 Wimbledon	5
103	Nicolas Mahut	L	John Isner
78	Ivo Karlović	L	Radek Štěpánek	SF	2009 Davis Cup	5
61	Ivo Karlović	W	Lu Yen-Hsun	1R	2016 US Open	5
56	Albano Olivetti	L	Matthew Barton	1R	2016 Wimbledon	5
55	Ivo Karlović	L	Lleyton Hewitt	1R	2009 French Open	5
53	Ivo Karlović	W	Alexandr Dolgopolov	2R	2015 Wimbledon	5
52	John Isner	L	Feliciano López	3R	2014 Wimbledon	4
51	Joachim Johansson	L	Andre Agassi	4R	2005 Australian Open	4
	Ivo Karlović	L	Daniele Bracciali	1R	2005 Wimbledon	5
	Gilles Müller	W	Santiago Giraldo	1R	2016 Wimbledon	5

Seasons with 1000+ aces

#	Player	Years
4	Goran Ivanišević	1994, 96–98
	Ivo Karlović	2007, 14–16
	John Isner	2010, 12, 15–16
2	Milos Raonic	2012, 14
1	Pete Sampras	1993
	Andy Roddick	2004
	Kevin Anderson	2015

WTA Tour

Serena Williams holds the record for most aces in a tournament with 102 en route to winning the 2012 Wimbledon title.^[9]

Most aces in a match

#	Player	W/L	Opponent	Round	Year	Event	Sets	Result
31	Kristýna Plíšková	L	Mónica Puig	2R	2016	Australian Open	3	6–4, 6–7^(6–8), 7–9
27	Sabine Lisicki	W	Belinda Bencic	2R	2015	Birmingham	2	6–1, 7–6^(7–4)
24	Kaia Kanepi	W	Lucie Šafářová	1R	2008	Tokyo	3	4–6, 6–3, 6–4
	Serena Williams	W	Victoria Azarenka	SF	2012	Wimbledon	2	6–3, 7–6^(8-6)
23	Serena Williams	W	Zheng Jie	3R	2012	Wimbledon	3	6–7^(5–7), 6–2, 9–7
	Kristýna Plíšková	L	Océane Dodin	1R	2016	Linz	3	7–6^(7-2), 5–7, 3–6
22	Brenda Schultz	W	Iva Majoli	QF	1994	Birmingham	3	6–4, 5–7, 6–0
	Meghann Shaughnessy	W	Nicole Vaidišová	F	2005	Memphis	2	7–6, 7–6
	Alicia Molik	L	Venus Williams	QF	2007	Tokyo	2	6–7^(4–7), 3–6
21	Michaëlla Krajicek	L	Camila Giorgi	2R	2015	's-Hertogenbosch	3	7–6^(7–2), 2–6, 4–6
	Naomi Broady	W	Jelena Ostapenko	2R	2016	Auckland	3	4–6, 7–6^(7–4), 7–5
	Maria Sharapova	W	Belinda Bencic	4R	2016	Australian Open	2	7–5, 7–5

See also

• Fastest recorded tennis serves

References

1. ace - Definition from Dictionary.com.
2. TENNIS.com - Tip of the Week - December 19, 2005 - Your Second Serve Archived September 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
3. "Allison Danzig". International Tennis Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
4. Karlovic Strikes 41 Aces To Set Murray Clash
5. http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/players/goran-ivanisevic/i034/player-stats?year=1996&surfaceType=all
6. http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/stats/aces
7. Karlovic fires 45 aces to beat Berdych at Gerry Weber Open
8. http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2009/07/05/ap/headlines/d998fvjg0.txt[]
9. Serena wins 5th Wimbledon title