In tennis, an ace is a legal serve that is not touched by the receiver, winning the point for the server. 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. According to the International Tennis Hall of Fame, this term was coined by the sports journalist Allison Danzig.
Professional singles records Aces have been officially recorded by the top-level professional tennis circuits since 1991, so these records start at that time.
Only main draw singles matches are included here.
ATP Tour
John Isner has the most aces in a tournament with 214 during the 2018 Wimbledon, 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.
Milos Raonic hit 47 aces in 2024 Queen's, the most in a best-of-three-set match. Ivo Karlović became the only player to hit at least 40 aces in three consecutive matches during 2015 Wimbledon.
Goran Ivanišević has the most in a single season with 1,477 in 1996. He also has the second most in a tournament with 213 when he won the 2001 Wimbledon title.
Roger Federer hit 50 aces in the 2009 Wimbledon final, the record for a Grand Slam final. He is also third on the career list.
Aces since 1991
Top 10 most aces served in a match since 1991 No. Player / Opponent Round Event Sets SurfaceRef. 113 John Isner W Nicolas Mahut 1R 2010 Wimbledon 5 Grass 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 Grass61 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
Most aces in a US Open match since 1991 No. Player / Opponent Round Event Surface Ref.61 Ivo Karlović W Lu Yen-hsun 1R2016 US Open Hard52 John Isner L Steve Johnson 1R2020 US Open49 Richard Krajicek L Yevgeny Kafelnikov QF1999 US Open Kevin Anderson W Jiří Veselý 1R2021 US Open48 Alexander Bublik W Thomas Fabbiano 2R2019 US Open John Isner L Michael Mmoh 2R2023 US Open
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 SurfaceRef.124 Martin Verkerk2003 French OpenClay110 John Isner2014 French Open108 Michael Stich1996 French Open107 John Isner2021 Madrid Open101 John Isner2017 Rome
Most aces in a one-week tournament since 1991 No. Player Event Surface Ref.156 Reilly Opelka2019 New York OpenHard144 John Isner2007 Legg Mason Tennis Classic
Most aces served in a three-set match since 1991 No. Player/ Opponent Round Event SurfaceRef. 47 Milos Raonic W Cameron Norrie1R 2024 Queen'sGrass 45 Ivo Karlović W Tomáš BerdychQF 2015 Halle 44 Mark Philippoussis W Byron Black 2R 1995 Kuala LumpurCarpet (i) Ivo Karlović W Daniel Brands1R2014 ZagrebHard (i) Nick Kyrgios W Ryan Harrison1R2019 BrisbaneHard John IsnerL Wu YibingF2023 Dallas Open Reilly OpelkaL Kamil Majchrzak2R2026 Brisbane43 Mardy FishL Olivier Rochus2R2007 Lyon Reilly Opelka W John IsnerSF2019 New York Reilly Opelka W Brayden SchnurF40 Goran Ivanišević W Magnus Norman 1R1997 ZagrebCarpet (i)
Most combined aces in a three-set match since 1991 No. Player/ Opponent Round Event SurfaceRef.81 Reilly OpelkaW John IsnerSF2019 New YorkHard71 Nick Kyrgios W Ryan Harrison1R2019 Brisbane
Most consecutive aces since 1991 No. Player / Opponent Round Event Surface Ref.10 Sam Querrey W James BlakeQF2007 IndianapolisHard8 Radek Štěpánek W Christophe RochusF2006 RotterdamHard (i)7 Michael Stich W Guy ForgetSF1993 Hopman CupHard Andy Roddick W Sjeng SchalkenQF2003 US Open Andy Roddick L Lleyton HewittSF2005 Australian Open Fernando González W Joachim Johansson3R2005 WimbledonGrass Feliciano López L Tomáš Berdych2R2013 ShanghaiHard Ivo Karlović W Mikhail Youzhny1R2014 HalleGrass Roger Federer W James DuckworthQF2015 BrisbaneHard Sam Querrey W Thomas FabbianoSF2019 EastbourneGrass Holger Rune W Mackenzie McDonald2R2025 QueensGrass
Serving five consecutive aces from 0–40 down since 1991 Player / Opponent Round Event Surface Ref. Boris Becker W Andriy Medvedev F1995 Hopman CupHard John Isner L Édouard Roger-Vasselin SF2013 Delray Beach John Isner W Jiří Veselý 3R2015 US Open Reilly Opelka W Roberto Bautista AgutQF2019 BaselHard (i)
Most aces without a double fault since 1991 + No. Player/ Opponent Round Event SurfaceRef.49 John Isner W Bernard Tomic1R2016 Davis CupGrass39 Reilly Opelka W John Isner SF2022 Dallas OpenHard37 John Isner W Jerzy Janowicz1R2016 Australian Open34 Ivo Karlović W Nicolás Massú1R2007 StockholmHard (i)33 Andy Roddick W Fernando González4R2010 Australian OpenHard31 Marat Safin W Andre Agassi SF2004 Australian Open
Seasons since 1991 with 1000+ aces No. Player YearsRef.7 John Isner2010, 12, 15–194 Goran Ivanišević1994, 96–98 Ivo Karlović2007, 14–162 Milos Raonic2012, 14 Kevin Anderson2015, 181 Pete Sampras1993 Andy Roddick2004 Reilly Opelka2019 Hubert Hurkacz2023
Most seasons since 1991 finished as ace leader No. Player Years8 John Isner2010, 12–13, 16–19, 226 Goran Ivanišević1992, 94, 96–98, 20015 Ivo Karlović2007–09, 14–153 Andy Roddick2003–052 Pete Sampras1993, 951 Guy Forget1991 Richard Krajicek1999 Marat Safin2000 Wayne Arthurs2002 Ivan Ljubičić2006 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga2011 Milos Raonic2020 Alexander Bublik2021 Hubert Hurkacz2023 Alexander Zverev2024 Taylor Fritz2025
WTA Tour Serena Williams holds the record for most aces in a tournament with 102 en route to winning the 2012 Wimbledon title.
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 2,466 Elena Rybakina 2,188 Aryna Sabalenka 2,090 Samantha Stosur 1,987 Ekaterina AlexandrovaTop 10
No.Aces in a seasonYear530 Karolina Pliskova2016517 Karolina Pliskova 2015516 Elena Rybakina2025498 Serena Williams2015492 Julia Goerges2018488 Karolina Pliskova 2019484 Serena Williams 2012480 Serena Williams 2013462 Caroline Garcia2023457 Kiki Bertens2019Top 10
Most aces in a match Players who have served 20 or more aces in a match since 2008 listed below. No. Player / Opponent Round Event Sets SurfaceRef. 31 Kristýna Plíšková L Monica Puig 2R 2016 Australian Open 3 Hard 29 Rebecca Marino L Talia Gibson QF 2025 Tokyo 3 Hard28 Kristýna Plíšková L Monica Puig 2R 2019 Luxembourg 3 Hard (i) Clara Tauson L Talia Gibson 3R 2026 Indian Wells 3 Hard27 Sabine Lisicki W Belinda Bencic 2R 2015 Birmingham 2 Grass Caroline Garcia L Zhang Shuai 2R 2022 Tokyo 3 Hard 26 Rebecca Marino L Kamilla Rakhimova QR2 2025 Cincinnati 3 Hard24 Kaia Kanepi W Lucie Šafářová 1R 2008 Tokyo 3 Hard Serena Williams W Victoria Azarenka SF 2012 Wimbledon 2 Grass Kristýna Plíšková W Karolína Plíšková 2R 2019 Birmingham 3 Karolína Plíšková W Amanda Anisimova 2R 2021 US Open 3 Hard Rebecca Marino L Caroline Garcia 2R 2022 Guadalajara Open Akron 3 Hard 23 Serena Williams W Zheng Jie 3R 2012 Wimbledon 3 Grass Kristýna Plíšková L Océane Dodin 1R 2016 Linz 3 Hard (i) Zheng Qinwen W Naomi Osaka 1R 2024 Berlin 3 Grass Lulu Sun L Océane Dodin QR2 2026 Wimbledon 2 Grass22 Brenda Schultz W Iva Majoli QF 1994 Birmingham 3 Grass Meghann Shaughnessy L Nicole Vaidišová F 2005 Memphis 2 Hard (i) Alicia Molik L Venus Williams QF 2007 Tokyo 2 Hard Ekaterina Alexandrova W Kristie Ahn QF2019 Seoul 3 Alison Van Uytvanck L Sofia Kenin SF 2020 Lyon 3 Clara Tauson L Sofia Kenin 2R 2024 Toray 3 Rebecca Marino W Ayano Shimizu 1R 2025 Tokyo 3
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.
No. Player Years5 Karolína Plíšková2015–17, 19, 213 Serena Williams2012–142 Caroline Garcia2022–23 Elena Rybakina2020, 251 Nadia Petrova2010 Marion Bartoli2011 Julia Görges2018 Zheng Qinwen2024
Seasons with 500+ aces Karolína Plíšková has the most aces in a single season with 530 in 2016, which broke her own record of 517 in 2015. 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.
No. Player YearsRef.2 Karolína Plíšková 2015–20161 Elena Rybakina2025
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.
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".
See also
ATP Tour records Fastest recorded tennis serves Glossary of tennis terms Tennis shots
References