Top 5 Greatest Servers in Tennis History

[@IntuitiveTennis]

Style vs Fundamentals Course (All Strokes) available with a membership to Intuitive Tennis Premium 7-Day Free Trial 👉 www.intuitivetennis.com/style-vs-fundamentals

[@farid1406]

Outstanding work as always! I would put Pete's hold game just a smidge above Roger and Boris because of the crazy fact that he was broken just FOUR TIMES in 7 Wimbledon finals! It seems like Pete's ability to serve big and play big in general improved under pressure and for that reason I'd say his hold game is the best ever by a hair.

[@RaphaClassic]

my personal favorite: Ashleigh Barty 😁 She is quite short for a tennis player, but has placement, power, consistency, a beautiful and efficient serve motion. She also was the ace leader on the WTA for several seasons and her hold game is very strong.

[@matthewwalsh974]

Yeah that serve was awesome.. That kicker was *chefs kiss*

[@10sChica]

Pete Sampras. My all time favorite. As a junior player, I loved his style. I’d serve and volley in my matches. 😂 I loved his preparation, motion, and assassin like accuracy. I’ve always hit with a bent arm anyway. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@tomsd8656]

I think you're rating first serve. If we rate second serve, then Sampras is probably at the top.

[@jerome_morrow]

I’d agree with this, Sampras’ second serve was incredible, and he made it look ridiculously effortless!

[@BurnsTennis]

Plus some of his second serves had spins of over 4000rpms! A 1998 US Open study showed that.

[@jerome_morrow]

@@BurnsTennis Indeed. Which makes his 95+ mph average second serve speed all the more impressive.

[@alvisedoria7782]

​@@jerome_morrow In the 2001 Wimbledon's match with Roger Federer his second serve's average speed was 110 mph ! And the scary thing is that it bounced at 5500 rpm ( as much as peak Nadal's topspin forehand ) ... and with an 85 sq/in racquet ! Looking at his second serve numbers in big matches ( usually around 45 % ) I'm sure he would've been more successful if he stayed back, even on grass ( at least in his best years ) with Agassi being the exception.

[@nebojsasimic2097]

Sve lijepo rečeno i objašnjeno...bravo Nikola... pozdrav iz Hrvatske

[@IntuitiveTennis]

🙏🙏

[@tennis3605]

Thank you very much for your analysis of the service of leading players. Very interesting. Convincing statistics.

[@matthewwalsh974]

So glad to see some love for my favourite ever player.. Dr Ivo! That serve was nuts.. Loved to watch his games. He actually had a pretty nice and powerful forehand, great backhand slice- he could come over it to hit passing shots- and always tried to attack the net. Fun game to watch! Also, competitive to a very late stage in his career! Hell of a win to beat Novak in Doha in 2015.. Also was able to defeat the defending wimbledon champ, Lleyton Hewitt in the 1st round in 2003!

[@jacksonlar]

YESSSSS! His only major flaw was that his height caused his to move like an aircraft carrier on ground strokes.

[@BurnsTennis]

That is a brilliant description of his groundstrokes! 😄

[@stefanthomassen4750]

Yes, Ivo still played in the german men´s 40 team-league championsships, but he lost in the finals against some Serbian guy on clay.

[@goggleboy2464]

Goran is #1 on my list!

[@sassanxersi1849]

Ivo Karlovic kick serve sometimes bounced 4 meters above the ground. Not so difficult to return for me, of course, but most players will look for a mouse hole, if they see that serve is coming.

[@Hristian93]

simply the best serve analysis possible, as you said, you did only speak about the serve and I totally agree with your list, maybe at 5 u could accept somebody else but the rest is quite accurate, I would only have a slight doubt who to place at #1 Isner or Dr. Ivo but was quite good argumented, tip top my man !! Opelka could get in this list maybe in 10 years but lets see what happens...

[@vanlendl1]

Pancho Gonzales hold his serve twice down 0:40 in the fifth set against Charlie Pasarell in the first round in Wimbledon 1969. He was 40 years old back then. That match had the record for the most games up to, when Isner and Mahut topped that record.

[@BurnsTennis]

I've seen all Top 5 servers on your list. Saw Roddick at Queens in 2003 and Eastbourne final in 2012. Saw Sampras in Queens, Wimbledon, Royal Albert Hall and World Tennis Day v Agasi in 2014. Saw Ivanisevic in Wimbledon 2004. Saw Isner in Eastbourne in 2017 and Karlovic in Wimbledon in 2003 against Max "The Beast" Myrni 🙂

[@user-jv9qz2bu1r]

Nick you are making a name as one of the top 5 tennis coaches on YT. I live near Seattle but if I were in Florida I would hire you to take my game to the next level.

[@PrecisionPointTennis]

Love this

[@pleaseenteraname1103]

I definitely agree that Croatia has produced the greatest servers of all time. And it’s pretty insane that Croatia and the United States are as close as they are in terms of serve statistics. When the United States has a population of 332,278,200, and Croatia has a population of 3,871,833, and that is based on the 2022 senses. And the same goes with Serbia Croatia and Serbia have produced incredible players, of course the greatest tennis player of all time Novak Djokovic, but also Goran Ivanišević, Ivón Karlovic, Marin Čilić, Ivan Ljubičič, Mario Ančić, And in the women’s there is Monica Seles, Jelena Janković, Ana Ivanović, Jelena Dokic. It’s frankly incredibly embarrassing that puny Croatia and Serbia at least compared to the United States in terms of size and just resources in general, is doing this well. And it’s the same thing with other small countries like Poland, Czechia, and Romania. But I still believe the United States has produced the fastest servers of all time. John Isner, Riley Opelka, Andy Roddick, Taylor Dent, Christopher Eubanks, Ben Shelton.

[@назовименятаккакпосчитаешьнужн]

thanks shelton serve is impressive

[@knotwilg3596]

Always interesting to do the exercise before looking at your list. I assume you will have the same #1 as me, you beause he's Kroation, me because of his birth year 1971. Ivanisevic. Then we'll surely have bombers like Isner and Karlovic. I want to add those who combined variety of placement with exquisite precision, like Sampras and Roger. So: #1 Ivanisevic #2 Sampras #3 Isner #4 Federer #5 Karlovic Boom-boom Becker is hard to leave out though. And now let's see ...

[@TheBronzika]

I remember almost 30 years ago I was playing on Šalata and on the court next to ours there was this very tall kid, 14-15yo, serving bombs. It looked unreal. Guess who I saw few years later playing in Wimbledon? :)

[@l.rongardner2150]

Dr. Ivo, the only professor with a PhD in serving.

[@joshualeifer3335]

Hey Coach Nick. How about a video on pre-serve routines?

[@stefanthomassen4750]

Although I´m a huge Boris Becker-Fan, because of him I started with Tennis in 1985, I would also put Stefan Edberg in this list of big 3, because with his lack of speed, especially with his 2nd kick-serve, he still was able to play and dominate with serve & volley, what even Sampras could find out...

[@sickhook123]

Big fan of your videos! Can you please make a video on how to keep a warm up rally going? I’m a beginner and I have been trying to rally with a friend of mine, but our rallies don’t last long. I would appreciate it!

[@IntuitiveTennis]

Beginner Rallying kzbin.info/www/bejne/o5XJd3qOeNh7j6ssi=DCwRQ7MsMaBlYPRa

[@glademaster]

It’d be great if you can have a video lesson on returning lefty serves as a righty

[@ignaciogodoy3214]

The other day a was looking at Nadal's serve I notice that his coil is not very Big , do You think that is a problem with his serve? It is good serve but I think is way buttom 3rd at Big three greatest.

[@parrothead2017]

Great video. Only thing I feel like is it is hard to compare countries, there is nuance to it because in America a small % of the population plays tennis whereas in other countries a much larger % of the population plays so comparing total populations across countries isnt representative of the tennis talent coming out of that country

[@pistolpete023]

Pete is top 3, full stop. His second serve is almost as fast as his first serve. His serve was a huge part of his game that won him 7 Wimbledon titles. Federer's serve is not better than Pete's.

[@user-oj7co5wm8g]

You say America has three in the top 11 but the list you placed on screen showed 4?

[@JayYeasmin]

5:32 I don't think that's correct, I think it was both his elbow/arm AND his wrist that "pronated"

[@gms9073]

Lol I haven't heard that Birdman line in years.. Nik is a genius.

[@IntuitiveTennis]

🔥

[@peterbedford2610]

Thumbnail immediately made me think of sampras. I think he has the record on second serve aces.

[@Anton.Arkhipov]

Interesting vid, thanks! But Djokovic serve is a thing of beauty in last years. Not ugly.

[@Gabriel-pe8zs]

Which is the best/easiest player to try to replicate?

[@BurnsTennis]

Why did you put Sampras as having played 792 matches? Is that ATP matches only? He actually played 984 mtaches. I wish he played one more seaosn at least to get 1000 plus matches, because that would have been a nice round number.

[@IntuitiveTennis]

That’s what’s listed on ATP website

[@IntuitiveTennis]

and my guess is they count aces from those matches.

[@BurnsTennis]

Oh thanks. I thought the other players matches were also a bit on the low side. They haven't counted ITF grand slam matches of which he played around 230 and won just over 200. I think it's 203. He definitely played just under 1000 matches. He played until age 31 so that would make sense.

[@Zephyr77]

My opinion on why you shouldn't copy the best servers of all time is because all of these guys are exceptions. They stand above even the other pros. This is because they are individuals that have some hyper personal trait that works for them and their physiology. Every one of these guys you listed have something unique about their serve that would only work for them, and is therefore pointless to try and emulate. Instead, if you wanted to copy a pro, I would recommend filming the stance and toss and racket drop that feels comfortable for you, then look for a pro that does it similar. By recreational standards even the worst pro servers are elite, and it's far more important to find what feels natural for yourself and then target your deficiencies than to try and emulate something like Andy Roddick who developed something that would literally only work for Andy Roddick

[@Zephyr77]

For myself, my serve motion actually resembles Dan Evans. I don't think I've ever heard anyone say that Evans is a standout server, but I've learned a lot about how I should toss and uncoil purely from watching footage of myself against videos and matches of Dan

[@BurnsTennis]

I take it you are on the shorter side? Dan Evans generally has to hit up as opposed to hitting down. In other words, he has to rely more on topspin serves than fast deliveries.

[@Zephyr77]

@@BurnsTennis Yea I'm about 5'8 and yet my serve is still my strongest shot, and I get positive comments on it from opponents basically every match.

[@BurnsTennis]

@@Zephyr77 That's good to hear.

[@marcelobarros5729]

Might want to double check that. US has 4 players in the top 11 for most aces.

[@marcelobarros5729]

@IntuitiveTennis Isner 🙂

[@livingtribunal4110]

My own personal favorites: 1. SAMPRAS 2. IVANESĚVIĆ 3. FEDERER 4. RODDICK 5. SAFIN

[@AJsVIEW]

Goran was, and is the best for sure!

[@archolus]

What about Hurkacz? Not even mentioned, and he has over 1000 aces in this season. Declassifying the rest of the players.

[@VeganBeerMonster]

Interesting point about Croatians being such great servers. Apart from being a tall people, what else could account for that? The Americans obviously throw a lot of balls when they are young which might explain their serving prowess. I also wonder why south americans and Mediterranean nations have produced so few great servers (except for F. Lopez, Berretini, and Del Potro).

[@josedeejay]

Isner and Ivo definitely at the top for obvious reasons. But I disagree about Sampras being unorthodox. I think Sampras has the most flowing, elastic and rythmic motion. I think him and Roger have the two most perfect motions. Roger’s being much simpler and much easier to learn. Would place Roger in the top five for sure due to precision, variation and efficiency.

[@samuelbazinet3033]

No Patrick Rafter?! Not even an honorable mention?! 2 US Opens and 2 Wimbledon finals as a serve and volley player you gotta have a very good serve. Greg Maddux of serving.

[@richardtreadwell5044]

Sam stosur in with a shout for best kick serve ever?

[@Grivian]

I don't disagree with your top 5 but I don't think that aces are the only interesting thing to consider when looking at the greatest servers. Instead of looking only at aces we should look at percentage of first serve points won mainly. First serve accuracy is also relevant. And perhaps also percentage of second serve points won.

[@Floodland-bn3ol]

Who is the greatest server under 6 foot tall? Dolgopolov had a huge serve but low percentage I think.

[@IntuitiveTennis]

Great question. Grosjean comes to mind

[@gregoryphillips3969]

Modern day racquets, diets and lack of video from the past plays into all of these considerations. Any list of greatest serves that doesn't include Pancho Gonzales is at the very least incomplete. Yes players get bigger, stronger and faster but Gonzales's serve especially if you give him the same equipment spans/transcends the ages.

[@JiraiyaSama86]

I already guessed Croatia. My two picks were in fact either USA or Croatia.

[@palavsudesh]

How about the Sampras second serve....arguably the greatest?

[@BurnsTennis]

Absolutely. Just check my videos of Pete's 2nd serve aces.

[@gutural]

Goran Ivanisevic starts his career in 1988, but aces didnt count as a official statistic until 1991... Goran probably hit 1000 or 1500 aces more for that three seasons...

[@IntuitiveTennis]

💯

[@IntuitiveTennis]

I would guess that number closer to 3000

[@thanghoang3198]

I would replace Roddick with Krajicek, though. Krajicek serve was a lot more unreadable.

[@bereznickidesign]

What about Hurkacz? His is the best this year!

[@LL-kz1qe]

Why all Croatia used and use 95 size prestige rackets even Gojo does and he is got great serve. Maybe smaller rackets are more precise

[@BurnsTennis]

There's a reason for that, it is much easier to apply slice on midsize racquets. Take Sampras as an example. On the deuce and ad courts, Sampras didn't just bang the serves down the middle, he applied slice for control. This made his serve heavy and always moving away from his opponents. Remember how often the serve would ricochet off his opponents racquets? That would be very frustrating to deal with. He applied slice on his serves down the middle on the deuce courts. That takes a lot of practice and a lot of skill to come over the ball at pace. A midsize racquet which is quite heavy is the best equipment to pull off that kind of skill.

[@LL-kz1qe]

@@BurnsTennis excellent. I Could t agree more and this why Djokovic has that effective serve even more than taller guys like Hurkacz Tsitsipas Zverev etc These observations although I play with 98 racket made me buy a prestige 95 but is so hard in other strokes so you had to play with two rackets for maximum results

[@IntuitiveTennis]

Top 5 Forehands in Tennis History 👉 kzbin.info/www/bejne/lYK7YWSFgZ6Ne9ksi=-_aoGXoiy32xSPUZ

[@davebudge4526]

But Andy Roddick wasn't able to dominate his rivals consistently with his serve and I felt lacked confidence in key moments aganist his biggest rivals plus I know John McEnroe criticised the Roddick serve for lack of variation kinda of like a flashly baseball pitcher with a great overpowering fastball but nothing else.

[@ssenssel]

What a joke of a list.. leaving Roger Federer out is straight up dumb, since he is the 3rd acer in the history of ATP and the only one on the top 3 with less than 1,90m hight, way shorter than Isner and Dr. Ivo. Didn't even bother to finish the video.

[@BurnsTennis]

That's a shame, you should have watched the whole thing.

[@arkemond]

Interesting that you didn’t mention Hurkacz.

[@MttSuddarth]

He's not an all time great server.

[@karmaqc2835]

He is so mid

[@arkemond]

He isn’t all time great, but he definitely deserved an honorable mention. If Medvedev can be mentioned then surely Huby should also be.

[@Grivian]

I know Joachim Johansson had an insane serve but Thomas Johansson in the honorable mentions? Really?

[@Didymus1984]

This has nothing to do with this video, but I wanted to report the very sad news that the local park finally said “screw tennis” and converted the remaining three courts (at one time six) to pickle ball courts. We all knew it was coming but still sad. The only thing the movie Idiocracy didn’t have was people playing pickle ball.

[@IntuitiveTennis]

😭

[@josedeejay]

Idk….I think Roger belongs in the top 5. I actually think he’s right behind sampras and the tall dudes. I lnow roddick and ivanisevic are very impressive due to their nasty power. But O do think roger is a better server than them. A lot more versatile, much more consistent, very clutch and could hit with more power, but didnt need to due to his great overall skill.

[@joshualeifer3335]

How about a video of top male servers shorter than 6'1"?

[@BurnsTennis]

That's a nice idea

[@transamination]

Surprised Raonic wouldn't be in top 5.

[@dinkydoodle8325]

Querrey above pete? nah thats crazy

[@BurnsTennis]

Querrey? I've seen him down in Eastbourne. His serve is nowhere near Pete's level. The quality of a man's serve is determined by his opponents ability to deal with it. Andre Agassi, Jim Courier among others won't have much issues dealing with Querrey.

[@dinkydoodle8325]

@@BurnsTennis exactly idk how hes even on this list above someone like kyrgios

[@JiraiyaSama86]

Really? Ugly? I would have thought that's something more attributeable to Ivanisevic's motion or Delbonis's, or someone else. I thought his motion after he fixed it looked perfectly fine, aesthetically speaking.

[@MERIDIAN2251]

Myself

[@stevenjm12]

No Blake Shelton love?

[@IntuitiveTennis]

Big potential kzbin.info/www/bejne/mJWxeoCBoLaXacksi=EedS7DNSSadtkF8v

[@krishnar3493]

No Richard Krajicek in the list? Come on, Nick 😂

[@evobacsi]

watch again

[@krishnar3493]

@@evobacsi No need, not in the 5

[@anthonymacaluso2671]

I don’t think roddick should be in there seeing as his serve wasn’t effective against the big 3. Would roddick serve as well as roscoe tanner with a wooden racquet? Don’t think so.

[@michaelreid8737]

Pete Sampras # 8, that's a joke!!

[@gregorywandersaround6178]

I'm going to mention Nick Kyrgios before wathcing this. ))

[@joshualeifer3335]

Don't like his antics. But like how he doesn't waste time between points.

[@VeganBeerMonster]

No doubt that Isner and Karlovic are the two greatest servers in history. However, Opelka has got to be number 3. As awesome as Sampras' serve was, I can think of a bunch that were better, and that includes Becker, Verkerk, Zivojinovic, D. Norman, Pimpim, Rosset, Raonic, Krajicek, Philipoussis, Kyrgios and many more.

[@toujoursboure7360]

Ahaha pola su hrvati😂😂. Baš smo posebni

[@JacObi-Wan-KenObi]

Uhm, Ljubicic was born and grew up in Bosnia if I’m not wrong…

[@Googlescholar72]

Serena Williams had the best serve in the history of tennis; men or women.

[@JeffreyMarciano]

Sure buddy

[@josedeejay]

Hahahahahaha funniest ppst I’ve read today.

[@dominict9418]

Too much talking. Not enough demonstration.

[@Emolga6274]

I thought ur going to give ur best impression of the servers but ur just talking . Boring video . I would love to see u 1v1 against that youtube coach called kreug. Something like that . He’s high level . Id pay to see u play that guy .

[@Tennis214]

That wouldn’t be a fair matchup. Nik is way older than Karue. Why would you pay for that lol