Top 10 WTA Fastest Tennis Serves of All Time
A month ago, the WTA record of the fastest serve was broken after seven years by Sabine Lisicki of Germany at the 2014 Bank of the West Classic match against Ana Ivanovic.
Lisicki, whose tour nickname is "Boom Boom," clocked in 131 mph serve and broke the record of Venus Williams of 129 mph WTA fastest tennis serve in 2007.
"It's about time it was broken," said Venus Williams according a report on ESPN. "It's a good thing."
Following the list of top 10 WTA fastest tennis serves of all time:
Rank | Name/Country | Miles per Hour | Kilometres per Hour | Tournament/Year |
1 | Sabine Lisicki (Germany) | 131.0 | 210.8 | Bank of the West Classic 2014 |
2 | Venus Williams (USA) | 129.0 | 207.6 | US Open 2007 |
3 | Serena Williams (USA) | 128.6 | 207.0 | Australian Open 2013 |
4 | Julia Goerges (Germany) | 121.1 | 203.0 | French Open 2012 |
5 | Brenda Schultz-McCarthy (Netherlands) | 126.0 | 202.7 | BNP Paribas Open 2007 |
6 | Nadiia Kichenok (Ukraine) | 125.5 | 202.0 | Australian Open 2014 |
7 | Anna-Lena Groenefeld (France) | 124.3 | 200.0 | French Open 2009 |
8 | Ana Ivanovic (Serbia) | 124.9 | 201.0 | French Open 2007 |
9 | Kristina Mladenovic (France) | 123.3 | 200.0 | French Open 2009 |
10 | Tatjana Maria (Germany) | 124.0 | 199.6 | US Open 2012 |
10 | Coco Vandeweghe (USA) | 124.0 | 199.6 | BNP Paribas Open 2014 |
According to the list, the top 10 fastest serves of all time happened in the past seven years.
Interestingly, there are only two players who are both in the list of top 10 fastest tennis serves of all time and current top 10 WTA rankings - Serena Williams and Ana Ivanovic.
As such, it is safe to say that there is a big difference between a fast serve and a great serve, The latter is a serve with good pace, location and angle, while the former is just about speed which is a less effective type of serve.