With his fifth ace of the first set in his third round Wimbledon match against Jannik Sinner (he was defeated by Sinner in straight sets), American John Isner broke Ivo Karlovic’s all-time record for aces in a career. A combination of longevity, success, and a massive serve from his 6’10” (208 cm) frame has allowed him to serve 13,748 and counting aces in his career. He broke the record set in October of 2015, when Karlovic topped the record held for 15 years by Goran Ivanisevic. Isner has a serve that truly has never been seen before, and this record cements his place in history as maybe the greatest server of all time.
Path to the Record
Isner has had a dominant serve his whole career due to his size, but he has improved the quality of his serve throughout his career since turning pro in 2007. He improved his service games won percentage in each of his first five years on tour. It eventually averaged out to current 91.81%, just short of Karlovic’s 92.0% mark. He has served over 1,000 aces in a year seven times, five of which have come in 2015 and later. He rose his continued serve improvements to a career year in 2018, where he won his first Masters title and finished the year inside the top-10.
Throughout his career, Isner has been consistently tough to return, and has averaged 18.6 aces per match throughout his career. This number is impressive considering he only made three major quarterfinals or better, so over 80% of his career matches were best of three. He has ridden his serve to each of his 16 career titles. While he has been called a “serve bot” for being boring and serve-focused, it has given him plenty of success. The combination of success with his serve and heavy match play throughout his career gave him the opportunity to build up enough aces to set the record.
Will the Record Stand Forever
Isner’s serve has allowed himself to minimize long, physical points and stay healthy deep into his thirties. He can certainly distance himself and continue to extend his aces total. Ivo Karlovic was able to play until age-42, and Isner looks nearly as strong as ever to play for several more years as well. Adding a few thousands aces to his total may make the record near unattainable. Isner has been unique in the fact that he is not just tall but truly has an excellent serve as well.
Tennis players are lasting longer than ever so it is not impossible the record may be broken someday. The obvious potential candidate would be Reilly Opelka who is even taller than Isner and already in the all-time top-100 for career aces at age 24. He served 67 aces in a match at the 2019 Australian Open, a feat which Isner only achieved once, and that was in his marathon against Nicolas Mahut. Opelka is averaging right at 18 aces per match, just short of Isner’s number. If he improves like Isner, he can certainly challenge the record assuming he can stay healthy.
Overall, Isner’s feat is incredible and will likely stand for quite some time. It took a dominant serve, incredible longevity, and enough match wins to continue to have chances to ace. Isner has a serve that we have never seen, and has yet another place in the tennis record books as a result.
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