The five biggest servers in our sport have a favourite spot to hit their aces – and it’s not where you think.

Fifteen thousand serves to the corners by the five biggest servers in our game uncover some fascinating insights into how power and direction dominate the start of the point.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of first serves out wide and down the T in both the Deuce and Ad courts reveals where aces occur the most from the tall timber, and how likely their towering first serves are to be returned back in play.

The following five players lead the ATP World Tour in Average Aces Per Match for the past 52 weeks and are the focus of this first-serve analysis.

Player Height / Average Aces Per Match Past 52 Weeks
6’11” / Ivo Karlovic 22.6
6’10” / John Isner 19.6
6’4” / Gilles Muller 16.5
6’8” / Kevin Anderson 16.4
6’5” / Milos Raonic 15.0

The overall data set of 15,020 first serves for these five players comes from 2011-2018 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events and Nitto ATP Finals.

Here are three things we learned from the big five servers:

Deuce Court Wide = No. 1 for Aces
Isner led the way with aces out wide in the Deuce court with 473 to this specific location. Interestingly, it was 108 more than he hit down the T (365) in the Deuce court.

Karlovic and Muller also targeted out wide more than down the T, while Anderson and Raonic went slightly more to the T. We seem to remember bombs right down the centre T a lot more from taller players, but it’s wide in the Deuce court that delivers the most free points.

Ace Location
Deuce Court Wide = 28.8%
Deuce Court T = 26.5%
Ad Court T = 23.5%
Ad Court Wide = 21.2%

2. Deuce Court Wide = No. 1 for Unreturned Serves
The first thing to consider is that this location is directed towards a right-hander’s more potent forehand return, but it also taps into the natural slice motion of a right-handed server. Most returners will be looking/leaning towards a serve down the T to their backhand, so the surprise factor out wide also contributes to the return being missed.

Most Unreturned Serves (not including aces)
Deuce Court Wide = 29.0%
Deuce Court T = 25.7%
Ad Court Wide = 24.1%
Ad Court T = 21.2%

3. Ad Court Wide = Most Returned Serves
Players at all levels of the game target the wide serve in the Ad court as a way to get free points from the first serve. The theory is solid as you are pulling a right-handed opponent off the court and stretching him to hit a backhand return. But the analysis shows that more first serves are returned back into play from this position than anywhere else.

Most Returned Serves
Ad Court Wide = 48.2%
Ad Court T = 47.3%
Deuce Court T = 44.8%
Deuce Court Wide = 43.6%

Muller, the only lefty in the group, had 49 per cent of his first serves unreturned from this typical lefty location. But he actually had fewer returned (44 per cent) when he served down the T in the Ad court.

Holding serve is definitely about power and hitting spots, but it’s also about getting inside your opponent’s head and figuring out where they think you’re going and switching it up.

Gael Monfils got off to a winning start on his Turkish Airlines Open Antalya debut on Wednesday, but was made to work hard for a place in the quarter-finals.

The fourth seed beat Slovenian qualifier Blaz Kavcic 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 in two hours and four minutes, having led by one set and 2-0. Monfils recovered from 3-4, 15/40 in the deciding set, breaking in the 11th game. The 31-year-old Frenchman lifted his seventh ATP World Tour trophy (7-20 in finals) in the first week of 2018 at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open final (d. Rublev).

“It’s always good to have your first grass-court match under your belt,” said Monfils. “It’s never easy, particularly against a qualifier, who has had more time on the courts. I’m not a big grass specialist, but I always try my best.

“The grass is a little soft, so it doesn’t bounce as well, meaning I had to concentrate and be on top of my game. I would like to come back into the Top 10, and now I feel I am back 100 per cent body-wise, but I need to get fitter. He was fighting all the time. I received great support, particularly in front of the kids, and I think we gave them a good show.”

World No. 41 Monfils finished in the year-end Top 10 of the ATP Rankings in 2016 after achieving a career-high of No. 6 on 7 November 2016. However, knee and Achilles injuries hampered his time on the court last season.

Monfils will next face Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, who saved one match point to defeat fifth-seeded Dutchman Robin Haase 6-2, 6-7(5), 7-6(2) victory in two hours and 27 minutes. Haase held his nerve on serve at 5-6, 30/40 and Ad-Out, in the second set and held one match point opportunity at 6-5, with Garcia-Lopez serving at Ad-Out. In their only previous meeting, Garcia-Lopez also beat Haase 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(4) at the 2014 ASB Classic.

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The top two seeds — France’s Adrian Mannarino and Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia and Herzegovina — both advanced on Wednesday to the Turkish Airlines Open Antalya quarter-finals.

Top seed Mannarino, last year’s finalist, improved to 6-1 at the ATP World Tour 250 tournament with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania in 79 minutes. He struck 10 aces and lost 10 of his first-service points (30/37).

Mannarino now faces sixth-seeded Portuguese Joao Sousa, who beat Mirza Basic of Bosnia and Herzegovina 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4 in two hours and 28 minutes.

Basic’s compatriot, second seed Dzumhur, later needed one hour and 54 minutes to oust Romania’s Marius Copil 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. Copil hit 10 aces, saving 11 of 13 break points to frustrate Dzumhur, who had lost his past two matches.

Dzumhur now prepares to face France’s Pierre-Hugues Herbert, who held his nerve to beat seventh-seeded Japanese Yuichi Sugita, the defending champion, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(6) in two hours and nine minutes.

Mirnyi/Oswald Survive QF Test
At 5/5 in the second-set tie-break, Max Mirnyi and Philipp Oswald were two points from defeat. But the second seeds raised their level, overcoming France’s Jonathan Eysseric and Hugo Nys 3-6, 7-6(5), 10-6.

Mirnyi and Oswald won 42 of 45 points behind their first serves in the one-hour, 31-minute contest to improve to 15-10 this season. In the semi-finals, the Belarusian-Austrian duo will face third-seeded Sander Arends and Matwe Middelkoop. The Dutchmen also needed a Match Tie-break to advance, defeating Radu Albot and Guido Pella 6-4, 3-6, 10-7.

Marcelo Demoliner and Santiago Gonzalez defeated fourth seeds Andres Molteni and Hans Podlipnik-Castillo 6-1, 7-6(3). Demoliner and Gonzalez won all five second-serve return points and converted both break points they created in a dominant first set before securing victory after 67 minutes.

The Brazilian-Mexican tandem will meet fellow unseeded team Roman Jebavy and Julio Peralta for a spot in the championship match. Jebavy and Peralta defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Joao Sousa 7-6(5), 6-3, 10-6.

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Slovakian Lukas Lacko recorded the biggest win of his career on Wednesday when he knocked out Diego Schwartzman, currently a career-high No. 11 in the ATP Rankings, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 at the Nature Valley International. His previous best victory had come in February 2011 at San Jose against No. 17-ranked Sam Querrey in the first round.

Schwartzman came within one point of taking a 3-0 lead in the deciding set before a tense finish. Lacko clinched his second match point chance in a 12-point final game, which ended with the World No. 94 forcing his Argentinean opponent into a forehand error.

Schwartzman has yet to win a match on grass courts (0-7). Lacko, who captured his 12th ATP Challenger Tour title (12-12) in May this year in Glasgow (d. Vanni), will next face a Briton in lucky loser Jay Clarke or wild card Cameron Norrie.

Marco Cecchinato made his breakthrough on the spring European clay-court swing, but on Wednesday at Devonshire Park, the Italian recorded the first grass-court win of his career, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 over 2015 finalist Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan, for a place in the quarter-finals. He will now prepare to face fifth-seeded Argentine Leonardo Mayer or John Millman of Australia on Thursday.

Cecchinato clinched his first ATP World Tour title on 29 April at the Gazprom Hungarian Open (d. Millman) and earlier this month reached the Roland Garros semi-finals (l. to Thiem).

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The All England Lawn Tennis Club committee has announced the 32 singles seeds and 16 doubles seeds for The Championships at Wimbledon, which begins on Monday, 2 July.

Eight-time champion Roger Federer, 2008 and 2010 titlist Rafael Nadal and last year’s runner-up Marin Cilic are among the top singles seeds. Novak Djokovic, the 2011, 2014-15 winner, who is currently No. 17 in the ATP Rankings will be the 12th seed.

Since 2002, The Championships has employed a unique seeding system, where they take into account previous results over a two-year period on grass courts.

• Take the ATP Ranking points on 25 June 2018
• Add 100 per cent of the points earned for all grass court tournaments in the past 12 months
• Add 75 per cent of the points earned for the best grass court tournament in the 12 months before that

The singles main draw ceremony takes place on Friday.

Singles Seeds [ATP Ranking]
1. Roger Federer (SUI) [2]
2. Rafael Nadal (ESP) [1]
3. Marin Cilic (CRO) [5]
4. Alexander Zverev (GER) [3]
5. Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) [4]
6. Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) [6]
7. Dominic Thiem (AUT) [7]
8. Kevin Anderson (RSA) [8]
9. John Isner (USA) [10]
10. David Goffin (BEL) [9]
11. Sam Querrey (USA) [13]
12. Novak Djokovic (SRB) [17]
13. Milos Raonic (CAN) [32]
14. Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) [14]
15. Diego Schwartzman (ARG) [11]
16. Nick Kyrgios (AUS) [19]
17. Borna Coric (CRO) [21]
18. Lucas Pouille (FRA) [20]
19. Jack Sock (USA) [15]
20. Fabio Fognini (ITA) [16]
21. Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) [12]
22. Kyle Edmund (GBR) [18]
23. Adrian Mannarino (FRA) [24]
24. Richard Gasquet (FRA) [29]
25. Kei Nishikori (JPN) [27]
26. Hyeon Chung (KOR) [22]
27. Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) [25]
28. Denis Shapovalov (CAN) [26]
29. Damir Dzumhur (BIH) [30]
30. Filip Krajinovic (SRB) [28]
31. Marco Cecchinato (ITA) [31]
32. Fernando Verdasco (ESP) [33]

Doubles Seeds
1. Oliver Marach (AUT) & Mate Pavic (CRO)
2. Lukasz Kubot (POL) & Marcelo Melo (BRA)
3. Henri Kontinen (FIN) & John Peers (AUS)
4. Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA) & Nicolas Mahut (FRA)
5. Jamie Murray (GBR) & Bruno Soares (BRA)
6. Juan Sebastian Cabal (COL) & Robert Farah (COL)
7. Mike Bryan (USA) & Jack Sock (USA)
8. Nikola Mektic (CRO) & Alexander Peya (AUT)
9. Aisam Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) & Jean-Julien Rojer (NED)
10. Ivan Dodig (CRO) & Rajeev Ram (USA)
11. Pablo Cuevas (URU) & Marcel Granollers (ESP)
12. Rohan Bopanna (IND) & Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA)
13. Raven Klaasen (RSA) & Michael Venus (NZL)
14. Ben Mclachlan (JPN) & Jan-Lennard Struff (GER)
15. Dominic Inglot (GBR) & Franko Skugor (CRO)
16. Max Mirnyi (BLR) & Philipp Oswald (AUT)

Aussie Bernard Tomic, 2011 Wimbledon quarter-finalist, is a match away from qualifying for the 2018 edition of The Championships, which begin on Monday.

The 30th-seeded Tomic dismissed Tomislav Brkic of Bosnia and Herzegovina 6-2, 6-4 to move into the third and final round of qualifying. The 25-year-old Tomic will face second seed Ruben Bemelmans of Belgium for a spot in the main draw.

#NextGenATP American Michael Mmoh has never played at the All-England Club as a professional but he advanced to the final round of qualifying 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-0 against 27-year-old Egyptian Mohamed Safwat, who made his Grand Slam debut by qualifying at Roland Garros.

Watch Qualifying Live

Frenchman Nicolas Mahut, who won the 2016 Wimbledon doubles title with countryman Pierre-Hugues Herbert, won’t be making an appearance in the singles main draw. Chile’s Christian Garin beat Mahut 6-4, 5-7, 6-2.

In other action, German Matthias Bachinger dropped only three games against Brit Daniel Evans 6-0, 6-3 to advance; Austrian Dennis Novak needed only 67 minutes to upset 21^st seed Donald Young of the U.S. 6-2, 7-5; and German Dominik Koepfer came back to beat sixth seed Gerald Melzer 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.