The one thing one need to have in their game is a big serve. Having a huge serve with solid game will fetch you immense number of titles and the likes of Roger Federer and Peter Sampras are prime examples of that. Over the years the game of tennis has witnessed several big servers who has served many number of aces.
Let’s take a look at the top five big servers of all time the game has witnessed:
5. Pete Sampras:
Pete Sampras, often called as Pistol Pete had a bullet serve will surely feature in this list as he hit 8,858 aces in his career in 961 appearances. The 14 time grand slam champion has won 7 Wimbledon titles, same as the Swiss Roger Federer and big serving was a natural ability he had in his armoury. When he lands his first serve on consistent basis it was curtains for the opponents as they hardly returned one.
4. Andy Roddick:
Andy Roddick, has the best service motion the game has ever seen. The American managed to win only one grand slam in which he defeated Juan Carlos Ferrero in the final of US Open 2003. Roddick is arguably one of the best servers and on most of the occasions it was it rocket serve which get him out of the jail. However, Andy Roddick didn’t had a great gameplay to aid his big serve as one could imagine which was his undoing against the top players on the big stage. The American managed to hit 9,074 aces in his 780 appearances.
3. Roger Federer:
Roger Federer has won more grand slam titles than anyone in the history of tennis. Many fall for the Swiss game which comprises of excellent forehand and an immaculate backhand which is just a treat to watch. But the Swiss serve is not bad either. He managed to hit 9,279 aces in his 1,224 appearances. Roger Federer has one of the best service action in the game and the accuracy of his service is matchless. One cannot forget the Wimbledon 2009 final where the Swiss hit 50 aces against Andy Roddick who himself, is a big server managed to hit just 27.
2. Ivo Karlovic:
Ivo Karlovic, is the tallest tennis player on tour at 211 cm. The Croatian has the biggest serve at present and he is one of the player to defeat the World no 1 Novak Djokovic this year. The big server is not quick across the court where as he manages to win majority of his points through his serve and it’s the toughest task for any opponents to return his serve and some players find hard to return even his second serve and will go down as one of the best servers the game has ever seen. The Croatian has managed to hit 9,778 in just 516 appearances which is absolutely remarkable. The Croatian is on the verge to go past his fellow countrymen Goran Ivanisevic who tops the aces list at the moment.
1. Goran Ivanisevic :
Goran Ivanisevic has a unique record of winning the Wimbledon title through Wildcard. He was the runner up at the Wimbledon 1992, 1994 and 1998. By the time of 2001 he was ranked 125 and was awarded wildcard entry and went on to win the title defeating the Australian Patrick Rafter. The key element to win the title was his serve and is regarded as the best server of all time the game has seen. He is the only left handed to feature in the top five servers’ list. The Croatian has managed to hit 10,183 aces in his 895 appearances which is quite staggering.