Ace (tennis)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An ace in tennis is a single-stroke point won by the server who produces a legal service that his opponent does not touch with his racket and thus fails to return. By definition, an ace will not occur should the opponent touch the ball in any way, even if the return is illegal.
In professional tennis, aces are generally seen on a player's first serve, where the server can strike the ball with maximum force and take more chances with ball placement (usually in the far corners of the service box). Sometimes a good server attempts an ace on a second serve, but it is risky because it can result in a double fault.
The most common placement of an ace is a hard flat serve to either the middle or the corner of the service box, or a spin serve out wide such as a slice serve (to the deuce court) or a twist serve (to the ad court).
The ATP circuit record for most aces served in one match is held jointly by Joachim Johansson and Ivo Karlović (51 aces). Interestingly, both players lost the matches in which they recorded this achievement. The Croatian players Karlović, Ljubičić and Ančić are currently best known for their aces, leading the ATP statistics in the number of aces served.
