Ace (tennis)
Point-winning serve untouched by the receiver
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 |
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 also served the most aces with 14,470.[6][7]
Milos Raonic hit 47 aces in 2024 Queen's, the most in a best-of-three-set match.[8] Ivo Karlović became the only player to hit at least 40 aces in three consecutive matches during 2015 Wimbledon.[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 since 1991
| No. | Career aces[12][13] | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 14,470 |  John Isner | ||
| 13,728 |  Ivo Karlović | ||
| 11,478 |  Roger Federer | ||
| 10,261 |  Feliciano López | ||
| 10,237 | Goran Ivanišević | ||
| 9,074 | Andy Roddick | ||
| 8,879 | Sam Querrey | ||
| 8,858 | Pete Sampras | ||
| 8,569 | Marin Čilić | ||
| 8,445 |  Milos Raonic | ||
| Top 10 | |||
| No. | Aces in a season | Year | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,477 | Goran Ivanišević | 1996 | |
| 1,447 | Ivo Karlović | 2015 | |
| 1,318 | Ivo Karlović | 2007 | |
| 1,260 | John Isner | 2015 | |
| 1,213 | John Isner | 2018 | |
| 1,185 | Ivo Karlović | 2014 | |
| 1,159 | John Isner | 2016 | |
| 1,156 | Goran Ivanišević | 1994 | |
| 1,131 | Ivo Karlović | 2016 | |
| 1,123 | John Isner | 2017 | |
| Top 10 | |||
Top 10 most aces served in a match since 1991
| No. | Player | W/L | Opponent | Round | Event | Sets | Surface | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 113 | John Isner | W |  Nicolas Mahut | 1R | 2010 Wimbledon | 5 | Grass | [14][15] |
| 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 |  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 |  Matthew Barton | 1R | 2016 Wimbledon | 5 | Grass | [16][15] |
Most aces in a US Open match since 1991
| No. | Player | W/L | Opponent | Round | Event | Surface | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 61 | Ivo Karlović | W | Lu Yen-hsun | 1R | 2016 US Open | Hard | [17] |
| 52 | John Isner | L | Steve Johnson | 1R | 2020 US Open | ||
| 49 |  Richard Krajicek | L |  Yevgeny Kafelnikov | QF | 1999 US Open | ||
 Kevin Anderson |
W | Jiří Veselý | 1R | 2021 US Open | |||
| 48 |  Alexander Bublik | W | Thomas Fabbiano | 2R | 2019 US Open | ||
| John Isner |
L | Michael Mmoh | 2R | 2023 US Open | [18] |
Most aces in a clay-court tournament since 1991
Note: This marked the third time that Isner had hit 100+ aces in a clay-court tournament.
| No. | Player | Event | Surface | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 124 | Martin Verkerk |
2003 French Open | Clay | [19] |
| 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 since 1991
| No. | Player | Event | Surface | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 156 | Reilly Opelka | 2019 New York Open | Hard | [20] |
| 144 | John Isner | 2007 Legg Mason Tennis Classic | [4] |
Most aces served in a three-set match since 1991
| No. | Player | W/L | Opponent | Round | Event | Surface | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 47 | Milos Raonic | W |  Cameron Norrie | 1R | 2024 Queen's | Grass | [8][21] |
| 45 | Ivo Karlović | W | Tomáš Berdych | QF | 2015 Halle | [22][21] | |
| 44 | Mark Philippoussis |
W |  Byron Black | 2R | 1995 Kuala Lumpur | Carpet (i) | [23][21] |
| Ivo Karlović |
W | Daniel Brands |
1R | 2014 Zagreb | Hard (i) | ||
| Nick Kyrgios |
W | Ryan Harrison |
1R | 2019 Brisbane | Hard | [24][21] | |
| John Isner |
L |  Wu Yibing |
F | 2023 Dallas Open | [25][21] | ||
| Reilly Opelka |
L |  Kamil Majchrzak |
2R | 2026 Brisbane | [26] | ||
| 43 | Mardy Fish |
L | Olivier Rochus |
2R | 2007 Lyon | [23] | |
| Reilly Opelka |
W | John Isner |
SF | 2019 New York | [4] | ||
| Reilly Opelka |
W | Brayden Schnur |
F | ||||
| 40 | Goran Ivanišević |
W |  Magnus Norman |
1R | 1997 Zagreb | Carpet (i) | [23] |
Most combined aces in a three-set match since 1991
| No. | Player | W/L | Opponent | Round | Event | Surface | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 81 | Reilly Opelka |
W | John Isner |
SF | 2019 New York | Hard | [27][28] |
| 71 | Nick Kyrgios |
W | Ryan Harrison |
1R | 2019 Brisbane | [24] |
Most consecutive aces since 1991
| No. | Player | W/L | Opponent | Round | Event | Surface | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Sam Querrey | W | James Blake | QF | 2007 Indianapolis | Hard | [29][30] |
| 8 | Radek Štěpánek | W | Christophe Rochus | F | 2006 Rotterdam | Hard (i) | [31] |
| 7 | Michael Stich | W | Guy Forget | SF | 1993 Hopman Cup | Hard | [32] |
| Andy Roddick | W | Sjeng Schalken | QF | 2003 US Open | [33] | ||
| Andy Roddick | L | Lleyton Hewitt | SF | 2005 Australian Open | [34][35] | ||
 Fernando González | W | Joachim Johansson | 3R | 2005 Wimbledon | Grass | [36] | |
| Feliciano López | L | Tomáš Berdych | 2R | 2013 Shanghai | Hard | [37] | |
| Ivo Karlović | W | Mikhail Youzhny | 1R | 2014 Halle | Grass | [38] | |
| Roger Federer | W | James Duckworth | QF | 2015 Brisbane | Hard | [39] | |
| Sam Querrey | W | Thomas Fabbiano | SF | 2019 Eastbourne | Grass | [40] | |
 Holger Rune | W | Mackenzie McDonald | 2R | 2025 Queens | Grass | [41] |
Serving five consecutive aces from 0–40 down since 1991
| Player | W/L | Opponent | Round | Event | Surface | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boris Becker | W |  Andriy Medvedev | F | 1995 Hopman Cup | Hard | [42] |
| John Isner | L | Édouard Roger-Vasselin | SF | 2013 Delray Beach | [43] | |
| John Isner | W | Jiří Veselý | 3R | 2015 US Open | [44] | |
| Reilly Opelka | W | Roberto Bautista Agut | QF | 2019 Basel | Hard (i) | [45] |
Most aces without a double fault since 1991
| No. | Player | W/L | Opponent | Round | Event | Surface | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 49 | John Isner |
W | Bernard Tomic |
1R | 2016 Davis Cup | Grass | [46] |
| 39 | Reilly Opelka |
W | John Isner |
SF | 2022 Dallas Open | Hard | [47] |
| 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 | [48][49] |
Seasons since 1991 with 1000+ aces
|
Most seasons since 1991 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.[58]
Most aces
- since 2010
| No. | Career aces | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 4,116 | Karolina Pliskova | ||
| 3,056 | Serena Williams | ||
| 2,880 | Caroline Garcia | ||
| 2,802 | Petra Kvitova | ||
| 2,692 | Julia Goerges | ||
| 2,589 | Madison Keys | ||
| 2,198 | Elena Rybakina | ||
| 2,188 |  Aryna Sabalenka | ||
| 2,090 | Samantha Stosur | ||
| 1,987 | Ekaterina Alexandrova | ||
| Top 10 | |||
| No. | Aces in a season | Year | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 530 | Karolina Pliskova | 2016 | |
| 517 | Karolina Pliskova (2) | 2015 | |
| 516 | Elena Rybakina | 2025 | |
| 498 | Serena Williams | 2015 | |
| 492 | Julia Goerges | 2018 | |
| 488 | Karolina Pliskova (3) | 2019 | |
| 484 | Serena Williams (2) | 2012 | |
| 480 | Serena Williams (3) | 2013 | |
| 462 | Caroline Garcia | 2023 | |
| 457 | Kiki Bertens | 2019 | |
| Top 10 | |||
Most aces in a match
Players who have served 20 or more aces in a match since 2008 listed below.[59]
Note: in the match between Lulu Sun and Océane Dodin, each player also hit an additional ace in the first set tie-break which was not included in the match statistics.
Most seasons finished as ace leader
Note: Most aces served in a season since 2010.[70]
| No. | Player | Years | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Karolína Plíšková |
2015–17, 19, 21 | [70] |
| 3 | Serena Williams |
2012–14 | [70] |
| 2 | Caroline Garcia |
2022–23 | [71][72] |
| Elena Rybakina |
2020, 25 | [73][74] | |
| 1 | Nadia Petrova |
2010 | [70] |
| Marion Bartoli |
2011 | ||
| Julia Görges |
2018 | ||
| Zheng Qinwen |
2024 | [75] |
Seasons with 500+ aces
Karolína Plíšková has the most aces in a single season with 530 in 2016,[76] which broke her own record of 517 in 2015.[77] 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.[78]
| No. | Player | Years | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Karolína Plíšková | 2015–2016 | [79][76] |
| 1 | Elena Rybakina |
2025 | [74] |
Most aces in WTA 1000s in a season
Elena Rybakina has served the most aces in WTA 1000 events in a season with 235 in 2023, the most since 2009. Followed by Karolína Plíšková with 234 and Serena Williams with 233.[80]
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".[81]
