John Isner and Sam Querrey have two of the biggest serves in ATP history.
Isner has hit the fastest official serve in ATP history and more aces than any other player before he retired in 2023.
While his compatriot does not quite have the same numbers, Querrey does hold a different unique serving record.
Serving was one of Isner and Querrey’s biggest weapons and now they have both agreed on the player with the ugliest serve in history.
Photo by MANAN VATSYAYANA/AFP via Getty ImagesJohn Isner and Sam Querrey agree that Federico Delbonis has the ugliest serve of all time
That player is Federico Delbonis, the former world number 33 who officially retired from professional tennis last year.
Delbonis won two ATP singles titles and was also part of the winning Argentinian Davis Cup team in 2016, but his service motion is probably what he is most well-known for.
What made Delbonis’ serve so unique was the way that he would exaggerate his ball toss to throw it unusually high.
Although Delbonis was able to enjoy successes in his career, Isner and Querrey both agreed that it is the ugliest service motion of all time.
“Federico Delbonis,” Isner said on the Nothing Major podcast. “The serve was insane how high the toss was but the forehand was really loopy.
“The backhand was probably the only stroke that was somewhat technically sound but that serve was legendary, how high his ball toss was. It was like he was hitting the serve as it was coming down, clearly, because if you toss it 13 feet in the air you can’t go up and get it.”
Querrey replied, “It is probably the worst looking serve of all time. If you had to ask me right now, Delbonis.”
How do Federico Delbonis’ serving statistics compare to John Isner and Sam Querrey?
Delbonis, Isner and Querrey all had similar length careers, and have all retired within the past three years.
Despite the criticism of the way that Delbonis’ serve looks, he actually beats Isner and Querrey in certain statistics.
Isner and Querrey are clear ahead of Delbonis, whose best surface was clay, in terms of aces, but the Argentinian actually hit fewer double faults than them both.
That is the only service stat where Delbonis betters Isner, but he also won more first and second serve points than Querrey.
Career Serving StatsFederico DelbonisJohn IsnerSam QuerreyAces1,26014,4708,879Double Faults1,2041,7892,395First Serve %61%69%59%First Serve Win %69%79%79%Second Serve Win %51%56%50%Service Games Win %76%92%85%
Delbonis was able to make his serve work in one of his two matches against Isner as well, beating him on the clay of Nice in 2014.
However, Isner got revenge over Delbonis eight years later after beating him at the US Open in 2022.