Tennis aces betting is an over/under on how many aces one player serves in a single match. An ace is a legal serve the receiver does not touch, and it wins the point for the server.
The book posts a line for one player, usually ending in .5 so it cannot push, and you take over or under. Most aces land on a first serve, when the ball comes in faster than on the second. The rest of this page covers how the bet settles, the ATP records that set the scale, and what pushes a count up or down.
How tennis aces betting works
An aces over/under bet has three parts: the line, the price on the over and the price on the under. The prices below are an illustration, not a board from any book. Player A is listed at over 9.5 aces at +150 and under 9.5 aces at -200.
A plus price is the profit on a $100 stake. A $100 bet on the over returns a $150 profit if Player A serves 10 or more aces. A minus price is the stake needed to win $100. A $200 bet on the under returns a $100 profit if Player A serves 9 or fewer.
The .5 is the break point. At 9 aces the under wins, and at 10 the over wins. No result lands on the line itself. In this example the under is the shorter price, so the book rates 9 or fewer as the more likely outcome. The over pays more because it is the result the book expects less often.
The most aces in ATP history
The table lists the ten highest career ace totals on the ATP Tour, as Wikipedia’s ATP Tour records page showed them on November 5, 2026.
| Rank | Player | Country | Career aces |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Isner | USA | 14,470 |
| 2 | Ivo Karlovic | Croatia | 13,728 |
| 3 | Roger Federer | Switzerland | 11,478 |
| 4 | Feliciano Lopez | Spain | 10,261 |
| 5 | Goran Ivanisevic | Croatia | 10,237 |
| 6 | Andy Roddick | USA | 9,074 |
| 7 | Sam Querrey | USA | 8,879 |
| 8 | Pete Sampras | USA | 8,858 |
| 9 | Marin Cilic | Croatia | 8,599 |
| 10 | Milos Raonic | Canada | 8,445 |
John Isner retired after the 2023 US Open with 14,470 aces. He took the record from Ivo Karlovic, whose 13,728 had been the mark, at Wimbledon 2022, in a third-round match against Jannik Sinner. Marin Cilic is the one active player in that top 10, as Wikipedia marks it.
Season and match records
Goran Ivanisevic holds the season record with 1,477 aces in 1996. Karlovic is next with 1,447 in 2015. The next three entries go to Karlovic and Isner:
| Player | Aces | Season |
|---|---|---|
| Goran Ivanisevic | 1,477 | 1996 |
| Ivo Karlovic | 1,447 | 2015 |
| Ivo Karlovic | 1,318 | 2007 |
| John Isner | 1,260 | 2015 |
| John Isner | 1,213 | 2018 |
The match record is 113. Isner served them against Nicolas Mahut in the first round of Wimbledon 2010, and Mahut served 103 in the same match. Isner won the fifth set 70-68. A record built on that many service games tells you how far a count can run when a match does not end. It says little about a normal match.
What moves an ace count
The server comes first. Tall players clear the net by more, which gives a flat first serve more margin. Height alone does not make an ace hitter, though, and not every tall player serves many aces. Speed is part of it: Isner’s 157.3 mph in a 2016 Davis Cup match is the ATP’s fastest official serve.
The receiver is the second input. A strong returner gets a racquet on serves that a weaker one would watch go past. A line set from one player’s average without the other player in it leaves out half of the match.
Format is the third. A best-of-five match gives each player more service games than a best-of-three match, so more chances at an ace. A line that looks high for a three-set event can be reasonable over five sets.
Isner’s numbers show what the top of the range looks like: 14,470 over a career and 1,260 in his best season. None of these factors guarantees a winning bet. The book prices them too, and an edge exists only where your count and the line disagree.
For the wider market, see our tennis betting guide and the notes on live tennis betting. Before you back an ace total, read what happens to a bet if a player retires. It matters most on props tied to one player. For longer bets, see our page on Grand Slam winners and futures.