Who has hit the most aces in tennis?
John Isner, Roger Federer, Pete Sampras, all feature in the list of players to have hit the most aces in tennis.
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Iva Karlovic, John Isner and Roger Federer- Top-3 ace hitters in Tennis
Aces in tennis are the points won on service when the opponent fails to return the ball successfully. Ace becomes one of the biggest weapons for a player, which can help him dictate the terms based on his service. Aces need to be fast and precise on the lines to get the point and are often difficult to hit.
However, there have been many greats who have practiced this skill over the years and made it one of their go-to weapon. The Grass courts are the fastest surface which helps in hitting an ace, while Clay is the most difficult one as the sand reduces the speed making the return easy to hit.
American veteran John Isner leads the charts. He is the only person in history to record 14,000 aces. As of 18th January 2023, he has 14,018 aces in 750 matches. The number can certainly go up as he continues to be an active player on the Tour. Croatian star Ivo Karlovic is the current leader on the Aces chart having hit a whopping 13,728 aces so far in his career of 694 matches.
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Roger Federer is 3rd on the list of most aces in tennis
Following Karlovic and Isner comes Roger Federer with 11,478 aces from 1,462 matches played in his career. Federer has played the most number of matches among the Top-10 players on the list.
| Name of the Player | Aces Hit | Matches |
| John Isner | 14,018 | 750 |
| Ivo Karlovic | 13,728 | 694 |
| Roger Federer | 11,478 | 1,462 |
| Goran Ivanisevic | 10,237 | 731 |
| Feliciano Lopez | 10,188 | 969 |
| Andy Roddick | 9,074 | 776 |
| Sam Querrey | 8,879 | 694 |
| Pete Sampras | 8,858 | 792 |
| Ivan Ljubicic | 8,138 | 680 |
| Milos Raonic | 8,136 | 524 |
Karlovic tops the chart in most aces hit on Grass as well having hit 2,771 aces while Federer comes 2nd with 2,261 aces followed by Sam Querrey who has hit 2,035 aces on the surface.
Isner leads the way on Hardcourts and Clay courts. On Hardcourts, Isner has hit 9,845 aces and is followed by Karlovic in 2nd with 8,609 and Federer in 3rd with 7,137 aces. Similarly, on Clay courts, Isner is on 2,115 aces followed by Karlovic with 2,037 and Feliciano with 2,031 at the 3rd place.
Isner also holds the record for most aces hit in a single match when he hit 113 aces in his marathon match with Nicolas Mahut at the 2010 Wimbledon which lasted for 11 hours and is still the longest match ever played.
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Sarthak Shitole
(3462 Articles Published)