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 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. He is also second on the most aces in career list.[6]
Ivo Karlović has the most career aces with 13,728.[7] He also 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]
Most aces in a match
# | Player | W/L | Opponent | Round | Event | Sets | Surface | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
113 | ![]() | W | ![]() | 1R | 2010 Wimbledon | 5 | Grass | [12] |
103 | ![]() | L | ![]() | |||||
78 | ![]() | L | ![]() | SF | 2009 Davis Cup | 5 | Clay | |
75 | ![]() | W | ![]() | 1R | 2017 Australian Open | 5 | Hard | |
67 | ![]() | L | ![]() | 2R | 2019 Australian Open | 5 | Hard | |
64 | ![]() | W | ![]() | 2R | 2018 Wimbledon | 5 | Grass | |
61 | ![]() | W | ![]() | 1R | 2016 US Open | 5 | Hard | |
![]() | L | ![]() | 2R | 2018 Wimbledon | 5 | Grass | ||
59 | ![]() | L | ![]() | 2R | 2019 Australian Open | 5 | Hard | |
56 | ![]() | L | ![]() | 1R | 2016 Wimbledon | 5 | Grass | [13] |
Most aces in a US Open match
# | Player | W/L | Opponent | Round | Event | Surface | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
61 | ![]() | W | ![]() | 1R | 2016 US Open | Hard | [14] |
52 | ![]() | L | ![]() | 1R | 2020 US Open | ||
49 | ![]() |
W | ![]() | 1R | 2021 US Open | ||
![]() | L | ![]() | QF | 1999 US Open | |||
48 | ![]() | W | ![]() | 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 | ![]() |
2003 French Open | Clay | [15] |
110 | ![]() |
2014 French Open | ||
108 | ![]() |
1996 French Open | ||
10 | ![]() |
2021 Madrid Open | ||
101 | ![]() |
2017 Rome |
Most aces in a one-week tournament
# | Player | Event | Surface | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
156 | ![]() | 2019 New York Open | Hard | [16] |
144 | ![]() | 2007 Legg Mason Tennis Classic | Hard | [4] |
Most combined aces in a three-set match
# | Player | W/L | Opponent | Round | Event | Surface | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
81 | ![]() |
W | ![]() |
SF | 2019 New York | Hard | [17][18] |
71 | ![]() |
W | ![]() |
1R | 2019 Brisbane | Hard | [19] |
Most consecutive aces
# | Player | W/L | Opponent | Round | Event | Surface | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
10 | ![]() | W | ![]() | QF | 2007 Indianapolis | Hard | [20][21] |
8 | ![]() | W | ![]() | F | 2006 Rotterdam | Hard (i) | [22] |
7 | ![]() | W | ![]() | SF | 1993 Hopman Cup | Hard | [23] |
![]() | W | ![]() | QF | 2003 US Open | Hard | [24] | |
![]() | L | ![]() | SF | 2005 Australian Open | Hard | [25] | |
![]() | W | ![]() | 3R | 2005 Wimbledon | Grass | [26] | |
![]() | L | ![]() | 2R | 2013 Shanghai | Hard | [27] | |
![]() | W | ![]() | 1R | 2014 Halle | Grass | [28] | |
![]() | W | ![]() | QF | 2015 Brisbane | Hard | [29] | |
![]() | W | ![]() | SF | 2019 Eastbourne | Grass | [30] |
Serving five consecutive aces from 0–40 down
Player | W/L | Opponent | Round | Event | Surface | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | W | ![]() | F | 1995 Hopman Cup | Hard | [31] |
![]() | L | ![]() | SF | 2013 Delray Beach | Hard | [32] |
![]() | W | ![]() | 3R | 2015 US Open | Hard | [33] |
![]() | W | ![]() | QF | 2019 Basel | Hard (i) | [34] |
Most aces without a double fault
# | Player | W/L | Opponent | Round | Event | Surface | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
49 | ![]() |
W | ![]() |
1R | 2016 Davis Cup | Grass | [35] |
39 | ![]() |
W | ![]() |
SF | 2022 Dallas Open | Hard | [36] |
37 | ![]() |
W | ![]() |
1R | 2016 Australian Open | Hard | [12] |
34 | ![]() |
W | ![]() |
1R | 2007 Stockholm | ||
33 | ![]() |
W | ![]() |
4R | 2010 Australian Open | ||
31 | ![]() |
W | ![]() |
SF | 2004 Australian Open | [37][38] |
Seasons with 1000+ aces
# | Player | Years | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
7 | ![]() | 2010, 2012, 2015–2019 | [39][40] |
4 | ![]() | 1994, 1996–1998 | [41] |
![]() | 2007, 2014–2016 | [41] | |
2 | ![]() | 2012, 2014 | [41][42] |
![]() | 2015, 2018 | [39][43] | |
1 | ![]() | 1993 | [44] |
![]() | 2004 | [41] | |
![]() | 2019 | [45] |
WTA Tour
Serena Williams holds the record for most aces in a tournament with 102 en route to winning the 2012 Wimbledon title.[46]
Karolína Plíšková has the most aces in a single season with 530 in 2016,[47] which broke her own record of 517 in 2015.[48] 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.[49]
Most aces in a match
There have been 29 matches played in which a player has served 20 or more aces, since 2008.[50]
# | Player | W/L | Opponent | Round | Event | Sets | Surface | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
31 | ![]() | L | ![]() | 2R | 2016 Australian Open | 3 | Hard | [50] |
28 | ![]() | L | ![]() | 2R | 2019 Luxembourg | 3 | Hard (i) | |
27 | ![]() | W | ![]() | 2R | 2015 Birmingham | 2 | Grass | |
24 | ![]() | W | ![]() | 1R | 2008 Tokyo | 3 | Hard | [51] |
![]() | W | ![]() | SF | 2012 Wimbledon | 2 | Grass | [50] | |
![]() | W | ![]() | 2R | 2019 Birmingham | 3 | Grass | ||
![]() | W | ![]() | 2R | 2021 US Open | 3 | Hard | [52] | |
23 | ![]() | W | ![]() | 3R | 2012 Wimbledon | 3 | Grass | [50] |
![]() | L | ![]() | 1R | 2016 Linz | 3 | Hard (i) | ||
22 | ![]() | W | ![]() | QF | 1994 Birmingham | 3 | Grass | [53] |
![]() | L | ![]() | F | 2005 Memphis | 2 | Hard (i) | [54] | |
![]() | L | ![]() | QF | 2007 Tokyo | 2 | Hard | [54] | |
![]() | W | ![]() | QF | 2019 Seoul | 3 | Hard | [50] | |
![]() | L | ![]() | SF | 2020 Lyon | 3 | Hard |
Seasons with 500+ aces
# | Player | Years | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
2 | ![]() | 2015–2016 | [55][56] |
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