Men's Tennis: 5 players with the most aces

A good serve is a go-to weapon of choice for many players who are blessed with big serving ability. It helps keep games short, makes it difficult for the opponent to break the service and puts added pressure on opponents to hold their own service games.

Tennis has seen an evolution from serve and volley style of play to a more open baseline hitting contest. But players like Ivo Karlovic who rely primarily on their service game continue to thrive using a serve and volley approach.

The fastest serve recorded in the Men's game is credited to Australian Sam Groth who served a whopping 263 km/h (163.4 mph) serve at the 2012 Busan Challenger tournament. Spaniard Georgina Garcia Perez holds the record in the Women's game for the fastest recorded serve at the 2018 Budapest Open.

She clocked an impressive 220 km/h (136.7 mph). The term 'Ace' was actually coined by American tennis journalist Allison Danzig.

The 2010 Wimbledon 1st Round encounter between American John Isner and Frenchman Nicolas Mahut saw a combined total of 216 aces served - an all-time record. We take a look at 5 players with the most aces served:

#5 Feliciano Lopez

Feliciano Lopez

Spaniard Feliciano Lopez much unlike his Spanish counterparts prefers the faster grass courts. This is mainly due to his strong service game which he matches with his exquisite one-handed backhand shots.

Lopez made his Grand Slam debut at the 2001 French Open and has since made 68 consecutive appearances in Grand Slam tournaments - a record which he now solely holds after surpassing Roger Federer's tally of 66 consecutive appearances.

Lopez has featured in the most number of 5th set matches which have gone beyond 6-6 in the deciding set. Lopez has served 9170 aces till date.

#4 Goran Ivanisevic

Goran Ivanisevic

The only man in the Open Era to win Wimbledon as a wildcard, Croat Goran Ivanisevic used his serve as a formidable weapon to wear down his opponents. Ivanisevic was ranked a lowly 125 at the start of Wimbledon 2001 and his win propelled him to 16th in the rankings.

His ace count of 213 that year at Wimbledon is the highest that any champion has amassed till date. His 1992 Barcelona Olympics Bronze medal victory run saw him win 4 consecutive 5-set matches - another Open Era record.

The big-serving Croat served 10,131 aces in his career.

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#3 Roger Federer

Roger Federer

Although not as quick as the other players on the list, Roger Federer uses his service game effectively to his advantage using the wide serve and the T-serve equally to his liking. The Federer serve is, in fact, one of the most under-rated in the game.

Federer's toss is straight and off to the right at around the 2'o clock position. He turns his shoulder in such a way that his opponent is now looking at his back making it difficult to comprehend the direction of serve.

Federer compensates lack of high speed in his serve with smoothness, elegance and fluidity. His serve has definitely been a key contributor to his remarkable success for over 15 years. The Swiss ace has served 10,728 aces till date.

#4 John Isner

John Isner

Big-serving American John Isner combines his darting service with a solid one-two forehand punch to close out his opponent and occasionally uses the approach shot. Isner on account of his superior serve wins most of his service games.

Isner has featured in 637 tie-breaks till date, winning 391 of them. He has featured in the two longest ever matches held at the Wimbledon Championships. His 2010 1st Round match with Nicolas Mahut broke all records. It was the longest ever match and Isner served a record 113 aces in that match including 246 winners - both all-time records.

8 years later in the semi-finals of Wimbledon, he again featured in an epic 5-set duel losing this time to another big server Kevin Anderson 24-26 in the decider.

Isner won his 1st ATP Masters 1000 title in Miami in 2018 and has served an astounding 10,820 aces in his career so far.

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#1 Ivo Karlovic

The 6 foot 11 inch Croat Ivo Karlovic is one of the tallest players to have ever played tennis professionally. His height enables him to serve with power and incredible accuracy. Only once in his entire professional career has he failed to serve an ace and it came at the 2008 Monte Carlo Masters against Frenchman Gael Monfils.

Karlovic's game primarily relies on the serve and volley approach and it has helped him reach a career-high ranking of 14 in 2008. Karlovic holds the record for the most aces served in a single Davis Cup match with 78 at the 2009 Davis Cup tie against Radek Stepanek.

He holds the second fastest serve ever recorded at 251 km/h. He owns the record of the most aces served in a 3-set match with 45 aces which came against Tomas Berdych at the 2015 Gerry Weber Open. As of date, Karlovic has served 12,936 aces.