Best serve ever in tennis

One of the most important shots in tennis. A good serve sets up the rally and if it`s not working there is constant danger of being breaked.

11. Marat Safin

Not just among the players with the most powerful baseline shots, his serve was also a huge weapon. Unfortunately he was kind of a head case at times and therefore the serve wasn`t that reliable.

Serve speed score: 95%
Placement score: 90%
Variety score: 85%

10. Boris Becker

Very effective serve on 90s grass and hardcourt and spectacular volleys to back it up.

Serve speed score: 90%
Placement score: 95%
Variety score: 95%

Additional reading: Best clay court player ever in tennis

9. Mark Philipoussis

The Aussie had a big gun with his service and also a pretty good baseline game. suffered a lot from injuries, otherwise could have reached way more.

Serve speed score: 95%
Placement score: 90%
Variety score: 85%

8. Richard Krajicek

Krajicek was basically very, very, very tall and had a good service technique. In the 90s that was enough to carry him to a Wimbledon title against Pete Sampras in the final. The -born for lawn tennis- U.S. guy just couldn`t manage to break even once.

Serve speed score: 100%
Placement score: 95%
Variety score: 80%

7. Roger Federer

The Maestro doesn`t have the fastest or most powerful serve ever. It is of course very decent that way, but the others guys in this ranking have the edge in that department. So why is Federer in here? I can tell you, it`s the variety and precision of his serve that is probably unmatched in tennis history. He constantly keeps his opponent guessing and mixes it up so well. And given that the Suisse has probably the most lethal attacking game ever to follow in on a good serve, you can imagine how hard it must have been to break him at his peak.

Serve speed score: 85%
Placement score: 100%
Variety score: 100%

6. Goran Ivanisevic

Was very close to winning Wimbledon quite a few times but was always second winner behind Sampras. When nobody really expected it anymore, he finally fulfilled his dream as a wildcard player in 2001 in an epic battle against Patrick Rafter. Was never really a fan given his serve-relying game but he deserved that one slam.

Serve speed score: 100%
Placement score: 85%
Variety score: 85%

Additional reading: Best tennis player ever – Greatest of all Time

5. Andy Roddick

Former world record holder of the fastest serve ever. Roddick was able to serve constantly fast and with pressure, which very much backed him up in return games, cause he knew he was pretty much unbreakable. At his peak unfortunately there was exactly one player who figured out and dismantled the big service successfully. Now who might that have been?

Serve speed score: 100%
Placement score: 95%
Variety score:90%

4. John Isner

The 6 foot 9 US guy has an incredibly powerful serve and in combination with his average movement and return quite often engages in tiebreak decisions.

He will probably never win a grand slam title but reached eternal fame in Wimbledon when he beat Nicolas Mahut with 70:68 (!!!) in the fifth set after an eleven hour battle.

Serve speed score: 100%
Placement score: 95%
Variety score: 90%

3. Pete Sampras

The former leader of total slam count was one of the strongest servers that tennis has ever seen. Very fast and precise and Pete hardly ever missed it in tense situations, it always helped him to free points. In contrast to most other big servers he had the weapons to follow in after a good service. Either with good volleying or a relentless forehand. Thats why he reached way more than most of the others in this ranking, he had a much completer game.

Serve speed score: 97%
Placement score: 100%
Variety score: 100%

2. Milos Raonic

Raonic certainly has some deficits in his backend and certainly movement. But his thundering serves, that he can pull out very consistently and a very potent forehand make him a fierce opponent on a tennis court.

Serve speed score: 100%
Placement score: 97%
Variety score: 95%

1. Ivo Karlovic

Serves from another floor than the rest of the guys on ATP tour. This leads to a totally different bounce that no returner could possibly get used to. Beside the bounce, the speed of course also causes big trouble for the receiving end of that serve. Also set the speed world record to 251 km/h.

Serve speed score: 100%
Placement score: 98%
Variety score: 95%