Australian battler Sam Groth can boast the fastest serve in tennis after sending down a missile clocked at 263km/h during a tournament at Busan in South Korea.
Ranked No 340 in the world, 24-year-old Groth - the former husband of fellow Australian player Jarmila Gajdosova - hasn't had too muchto cheer about in his career, slogging away in second-tier Challenger events.
But governing body the ATP ensured him a moment of fame on Saturday when it announced he had clocked the fastest serve recorded at a professional tournament, far exceeding the previous best by giant Croat Ivo Karlovic, who fired down a 251km/h serve during a Davis Cup match in March last year.
It came in a straight sets second-round loss against Uladzimir Ignatik, of Belarus, in which he was also credited with serves timed at 253.5km/h and 255.7km/h.
Eurosport reports the record has risen by small amounts in recent years with improved racquet technology but the jump of 12km/h by the 193cm tall Groth is unprecedented.
The ATP explained that they did not officially recognise service speed records because of the variance in radar guns but they confirmed that the event was using approved equipment, and that other data gathered appeared within a normal range.
They took several days to corroborate the data from Busan before announcing it.
Groth himself did not seem too impressed, noting on Twitter "Lost 4&3. Average!
