In the Vienna round of 16 last week, Juan Martin Del Potro beat Daniel Brands in a three-set, three-tiebreak match. The courts are fast, Delpo serves big, and apparently Brands has quite the weapon of his own, as both players hit at least 30 aces. Brands hit 32.
We can’t help but be impressed at the sheer numbers. As it turns out, it’s an ATP first, at least since 1991, when the ATP started keeping such stats. Never before had both players hit at least 30 aces in a three-set match.
Here are the top nine matches in the ATP record books, in which both servers reached a certain ace milestone:
minAces Winner Loser Year Event Surface Score wAces lAces 30 Juan Martin Del Potro Daniel Brands 2012 Vienna Hard 6-7(5) 7-6(4) 7-6(6) 30 32 29 John Isner Gilles Muller 2010 Atlanta Hard 4-6 7-6(6) 7-6(7) 33 29 28 Andrei Pavel Gregory Carraz 2005 Milan Carpet 7-6(0) 6-7(5) 7-6(3) 28 33 25 Greg Rusedski Joachim Johansson 2004 Moscow Carpet 7-6(5) 6-7(1) 7-6(7) 25 26 25 Arnaud Clement Thomas Johansson 2008 Cincinnati Masters Hard 7-6(4) 6-7(5) 6-3 25 28 24 Mark Philippoussis Greg Rusedski 2002 Queen's Club Grass 6-7(1) 7-6(3) 7-6(5) 25 24 24 Joachim Johansson Kristof Vliegen 2006 Stockholm Hard 6-7(5) 7-6(5) 7-6(7) 24 24 24 Andy Roddick Ivo Karlovic 2009 Queen's Club Grass 7-6(4) 7-6(5) 24 26 24 Richard Gasquet Joachim Johansson 2009 Kuala Lumpur Hard 4-6 7-6(1) 6-2 26 24
(There are several matches in which both players hit 23, including two on clay, both from 2011: Isner/Karlovic in Houston, and Federer/Feliciano Lopez in Madrid. Both went to three tiebreaks.)
Aces in a losing effort
Even independent of Del Potro’s 30 aces, it stands out that Brands racked up 32 aces in a best-of-three losing effort. But that’s not a record–it ties him for 16th of all time with several others, including Sam Querrey, Milos Raonic, Ivo Karlovic, and Goran Ivanisevic, who did it twice.
Mardy Fish may not be proud of this record, but he simply blows away the rest of the field, having served past the eminently ace-able Olivier Rochus 43 times despite losing to the Belgian. Though Karlovic may not sit atop the list, he makes up for it by dominating the middle.
lAces Winner Loser Year Event Surface Score wAces 43 Olivier Rochus Mardy Fish 2007 Lyon Carpet 6-7(5) 7-6(6) 7-6(15) 2 37 Yevgeny Kafelnikov Alexander Waske 2002 Tashkent Hard 6-7(6) 7-6(5) 7-6(6) 10 35 Pete Sampras Goran Ivanisevic 1996 Tour Finals Carpet 6-7(6) 7-6(4) 7-5 17 35 Andy Roddick Feliciano Lopez 2011 Queen's Club Grass 7-6(2) 6-7(5) 6-4 15 35 Feliciano Lopez Ivo Karlovic 2004 Madrid Masters Hard 6-4 6-7(10) 7-6(5) 8 35 Yen Hsun Lu Ivo Karlovic 2012 Queen's Club Grass 6-7(3) 7-6(6) 7-6(7) 6 35 Rafael Nadal Ivo Karlovic 2008 Queen's Club Grass 6-7(5) 7-6(5) 7-6(4) 6 35 Arnaud Clement Ivo Karlovic 2004 's-Hertogenbosch Grass 7-6(8) 6-7(5) 6-3 2 34 Thomas Johansson Ivan Ljubicic 2002 Canada Masters Hard 4-6 6-4 7-6(6) 17 34 Lars Burgsmuller Wayne Arthurs 2006 Tokyo Hard 6-7(5) 7-6(7) 7-6(3) 10 34 Richey Reneberg Richard Krajicek 1997 Halle Grass 4-6 7-6(2) 7-6(6) 6
Total aces in a single match
If there has never been a match in which both players hit 30 aces, a match total of 62 aces must be pretty impressive, right?
Indeed it is. Del Potro and Brands are now tied for the record, initially set by John Isner and Gilles Muller two years ago in Atlanta. It’s only the fourth time that two players have combined for 60 or more aces in a best-of-three contest.
totAces Winner Loser Year Event Surface Score wAces lAces 62 Juan Martin Del Potro Daniel Brands 2012 Vienna Hard 6-7(5) 7-6(4) 7-6(6) 30 32 62 John Isner Gilles Muller 2010 Atlanta Hard 4-6 7-6(6) 7-6(7) 33 29 61 Andrei Pavel Gregory Carraz 2005 Milan Carpet 7-6(0) 6-7(5) 7-6(3) 28 33 60 Goran Ivanisevic Magnus Norman 1997 Zagreb Carpet 7-6(5) 6-7(4) 7-5 40 20 58 Frank Dancevic Peter Wessels 2007 Stockholm Hard 6-1 6-7(7) 7-6(6) 35 23 55 Jan Michael Gambill Wayne Arthurs 2002 San Jose Hard 7-5 6-7(5) 7-6(4) 22 33 55 Bohdan Ulihrach Goran Ivanisevic 1999 Rotterdam Carpet 6-7(6) 7-6(3) 7-5 23 32 53 Andy Roddick Wayne Arthurs 2006 Memphis Hard 6-7(4) 7-6(9) 7-6(2) 20 33 53 Andy Roddick Sam Querrey 2010 San Jose Hard 2-6 7-6(5) 7-6(4) 21 32 53 Arnaud Clement Thomas Johansson 2008 Cincinnati Masters Hard 7-6(4) 6-7(5) 6-3 25 28 53 Joachim Johansson Gregory Carraz 2004 Canada Masters Hard 7-6(4) 6-7(3) 7-6(4) 30 23
The higher bar of ace rate
If you want to set a record in a best-of-three-sets match, getting to those three tiebreaks is a good idea. The more points you play, the more likely you’ll hit more aces, as evidenced by Fish’s losing performance, where he not only reached three tiebreaks, but played at least twelve points in each one!
For greater context, we should open up the field to all matches regardless of length, and compare them by ace rate.
Del Potro’s 30 aces came in 125 service points, for an ace rate of 24%. Brands hit 32 in 131, for an ace ate of 24.4%. It’s not often that one player (not named Isner, anyway) hits nearly one-quarter of his serves for aces, so it is particularly unusual for both players to do so.
In all tour-level matches (including grand slams) since 1991, a minimum ace rate of 24.0% is only good for 17th. Andy Roddick was particularly adept at bringing about these kinds of matches, appearing in 6 of the top 11 on this list:
minA% Winner Loser Year Event Surface Score wA% lA% 33.3% Andy Roddick Ivo Karlovic 2009 Queen's Club Grass 7-6(4) 7-6(5) 33.3% 35.1% 29.8% Mikhail Youzhny Ivan Ljubicic 2007 Rotterdam Hard 6-2 6-4 29.8% 29.8% 29.2% Gregory Carraz Martin Verkerk 2004 Milan Carpet 6-3 7-6(3) 30.4% 29.2% 27.3% Goran Ivanisevic Boris Becker 1996 Antwerp Carpet 6-4 7-6(5) 30.8% 27.3% 27.1% John Isner Gilles Muller 2010 Atlanta Hard 4-6 7-6(6) 7-6(7) 27.5% 27.1% 27.0% Robin Soderling Andy Roddick 2008 Lyon Carpet 7-6(5) 7-6(5) 27.0% 27.2% 26.7% Janko Tipsarevic Peter Luczak 2010 s-Hertogenbosch Grass 6-3 6-3 26.7% 27.1% 26.1% Andy Roddick Gilles Muller 2008 Memphis Hard 6-4 7-6(4) 27.4% 26.1% 25.4% Andy Roddick Joachim Johansson 2004 San Jose Hard 6-3 7-6(7) 36.5% 25.4% 25.4% Andy Roddick Nicolas Mahut 2008 Lyon Carpet 7-6(5) 6-4 29.0% 25.4% 25.3% Andy Roddick Feliciano Lopez 2008 Dubai Hard 6-7(8) 6-4 6-2 26.2% 25.3%
Ace rate in a losing effort
While losers rarely hit as many aces as Brands did last week, losers often hit aces at a much higher rate. Brands doesn’t register anywhere near the top of this all-time list.
Think of it this way: The shorter the match, the more likely a player will do something off-the-charts, rate-wise. Karlovic tops this list, with 28 aces in his 70 service points. Brands didn’t maintain anywhere near the same rate that Ivo did, but Brands did have to hit nearly twice as many serves! Had Karlovic continued for 61 more serves, he probably would’ve done better than 24.4%, but it is very unlikely he would have continued at a 4-in-10 pace.
This is also a reason why we haven’t seen many best-of-five matches on the ace-rate leaderboards. Even if one player is acing like a madman while quickly losing, he still has to keep up the pace for three sets.
lA% Winner Loser Year Event Surface Score lAces 40.0% Florent Serra Ivo Karlovic 2009 Basel Hard 7-6(5) 6-4 28 37.5% Alex Obrien Mark Philippoussis 1996 Cincinnati Masters Hard 6-4 6-4 21 36.6% Thomas Johansson Ivan Ljubicic 2002 Canada Masters Hard 4-6 6-4 7-6(6) 34 35.8% Richey Reneberg Richard Krajicek 1997 Halle Grass 4-6 7-6(2) 7-6(6) 34 35.1% Andy Roddick Ivo Karlovic 2009 Queen's Club Grass 7-6(4) 7-6(5) 26 34.8% Paul Henri Mathieu Ivo Karlovic 2009 Cincinnati Masters Hard 7-6(9) 6-4 23 34.8% Paul Henri Mathieu Chris Guccione 2008 Adelaide Hard 4-6 6-3 6-4 24 34.2% Andre Agassi Joachim Johansson 2005 Australian Open Hard 6-7(4) 7-6(5) 7-6(3) 6-4 51 33.8% Jonas Bjorkman Mark Philippoussis 2002 Memphis Hard 7-6(6) 7-6(1) 26 33.3% Thomas Johansson Wayne Arthurs 2001 Nottingham Grass 7-6(3) 7-6(3) 24 33.3% Yevgeny Kafelnikov Marc Rosset 2002 Marseille Hard 6-3 7-6(5) 19 33.3% Andre Agassi Goran Ivanisevic 1994 Vienna Carpet 6-4 6-4 19
Combined ace rate
As you might have guessed by now, 24% isn’t going to be good enough to crack this final all-time list. Roddick, Karlovic, and Mark Philippousis simply played too many matches to allow that to happen.
Indeed, the Brands/Del Potro combined rate of 24.2% isn’t even close to the top of this list. To show up here, it’s necessary to come within an ace or two of the 30% mark. With Andy’s retirement and Ivo’s decline, this leaderboard looks particularly safe at the moment.
totA% Winner Loser Year Event Surface Score totAces wA% lA% 34.2% Andy Roddick Ivo Karlovic 2009 Queen's Club Grass 7-6(4) 7-6(5) 50 33.3% 35.1% 31.6% Andy Roddick Thomas Johansson 2004 Bangkok Hard 6-3 6-4 31 38.2% 23.3% 31.6% Andy Roddick Joachim Johansson 2004 San Jose Hard 6-3 7-6(7) 42 36.5% 25.4% 31.6% Martin Verkerk Thomas Enqvist 2003 Milan Carpet 6-3 6-4 30 46.0% 15.6% 30.6% Robin Soderling Gregory Carraz 2004 Marseille Hard 6-3 6-4 30 42.6% 19.6% 30.4% Jonathan Stark Goran Ivanisevic 1997 Indian Wells Masters Hard 7-5 6-3 34 37.7% 23.7% 29.9% Mark Philippoussis Lionel Roux 1996 Paris Masters Carpet 6-4 6-4 35 49.1% 11.7% 29.8% Mikhail Youzhny Ivan Ljubicic 2007 Rotterdam Hard 6-2 6-4 28 29.8% 29.8% 29.8% Gregory Carraz Martin Verkerk 2004 Milan Carpet 6-3 7-6(3) 36 30.4% 29.2% 29.0% Jonathan Stark Thomas Enqvist 1993 Halle Grass 6-4 6-2 27 37.8% 20.8% 29.0% Goran Ivanisevic Boris Becker 1996 Antwerp Carpet 6-4 7-6(5) 38 30.8% 27.3%
Andy, we’re missing you already.
