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Tennis

Ivo Karlović

251 km/h serve in Davis Cup doubles against Germany in Zagreb in March 2011, with Ivan Dodig.

Also known as Ivo Karlovic, Karlović 251
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Ball speed

Published as 251 km/hPublished as 251 km/hPublished as 251 km/h

Serve radar in Davis Cup doubles, Zagreb, March 2011. Ivo Karlović partnered Ivan Dodig against Christopher Kas and Philipp Petzschner. 156 mph and 251.0 km/h are the same figure. The day inside March is not stored.

OfficialSportskeeda (opens source in a new tab)

In context

  • 2.4× a cheetah's timed top speedSourced · Cheetah, 29 m/s. Sharp 1997, mean of three timed runs over 201.2 m
  • A football field in 1.3 sConstant · American football field, 100 yd (91.44 m)
  • London to New York in 22 h 11 minConstant · London to New York, 5,570 km great-circle

Worked out from the sourced figure above, which stays the ranked number.

This list

Why it's so fast

An ATP or Davis Cup serve is a kinetic chain. The legs, the trunk and the shoulder load, then the racquet head meets the ball. The list keeps the radar figure those events printed.

  1. A loaded throw

    Serve speed is the racquet head at contact, not a practice swing. The toss has to sit where the chain finishes.

  2. Tour radar, not a Challenger

    This list is ATP Tour and Davis Cup radar. A Challenger clock, even a faster one, is a different scope and stays off the ranking.

This is how the category works. A note written for this entry appears here once it is in the database.

Provenance

Every measurement

Claimed, measured and official figures side by side, each with its source. The ranked figure is marked.

  1. 251km/h156mph69.7m/s136knRanked figure

    Serve radar in Davis Cup doubles, Zagreb, March 2011. Ivo Karlović partnered Ivan Dodig against Christopher Kas and Philipp Petzschner. 156 mph and 251.0 km/h are the same figure. The day inside March is not stored.

    ABC prints 251 kph in a Davis Cup tie against Germany in Zagreb in March 2011. Guinness prints 251 km/h (156 mph).

    Official
    Sportskeeda (opens source in a new tab)

Reference

Specs

Server
Ivo Karlović
Event
2011 Davis Cup, Zagreb
Speed
251 km/h
Match
Doubles vs Germany

Context

Background

Sportskeeda prints Ivo Karlović at 251 km/hr in the 2011 Davis Cup doubles in Zagreb, partnering Ivan Dodig against Christopher Kas and Philipp Petzschner. ABC prints 251 kph for that Davis Cup tie against Germany in Zagreb in March 2011. Guinness prints his previous record as 251 km/h (156 mph).

The ranked figure is 251 km/h. 156 mph is the conversion Guinness prints beside it. The month is March 2011. The day is not stored. Jerzy Janowicz's 251 km/h at the Pekao Szczecin Open is a Challenger mark and is not a second row on this list.

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