The 5 Tallest Male Tennis Players of All-Time
The Top 5 Tallest Male Tennis Players Ever!
Is height a proven empirical advantage in tennis? The “gods” as Nick Kyrgios calls Djokovic, Nadal and Federer, all stand at over six feet.
However, they are not exactly towering.
On the women’s side, Maria Sharapova, Lindsay Davenport and Venus Williams have certainly benefited from their frame, to telling effect in gathering multiple slams.
Tall tennis legend, John Isner
The high-rise power of the game’s titans is frightening.
Huge servers who are nudging towards seven feet have a definite advantage in the margin of error to land serves, and they can also generate more venom from a steeper angle.
They are, naturally, harder to lob and the rhythm of playing someone who can produce a double fault followed by a 150mph serve becomes an issue at critical moments, too.
Opponents have to hang tough against behemoths. It’s either that or screaming when another thundering ace crashes past on breakpoint.
In this article, find a list of the 5 tallest male tennis players of all time, some of whom are still out there on tour!
1. Ivo Karlovic at 6’ 11”
When Andre Agassi, one of the greatest returners in the game, played Ivo Karlovic for the first time in the 2005 US Open, the American only broke serve once over the course of two-and-a-half hours.
Ultimately, the Croatian’s launchpad was so high that it was difficult for any receiver.
The iron giant hit 13,728 aces in the course of his career, and he has a European shoe size of 51.
Being so tall was a challenge for him too on tour: “'When I travel it’s not easy because everything is made for average size people.”
Karlovic played into his 40s before retiring in 2022. He even describes himself on Twitter as a 6’11” tennis player.
He won eight career ATP titles and made the quarter-finals of Wimbledon in 2009 where he lost to eventual champion Roger Federer.
2. Reilly Opelka 6’ 11”
Opelka is “up there” with Karlovic at the top of the very tall tree, but it was the recent US Men’s Open Clay Championship against Isner that was dubbed the “Battle of the Bots”.
The clash was the tallest match ever recorded on the ATP Tour in the Open era.
Opelka and Isner often have an inside joke about being called "Servebots”, who are only considered for their projectiles.
For a man in size 15 shoes, the Delray Beach dynamo has had to deal with a lot of foot and back injuries. In fact, he’s said that he wished he’d been a basketball player, instead of playing tennis.
His tennis prowess is considerable.
He was a junior Wimbledon champion and reached the Queen’s Club Championship Doubles final in 2021 with Australian John Peers.
He is a top 20 ranked player in 2023, with four ATP singles titles to his name.
3. John Isner 6’ 10”
The experienced American has been around the block and recently broke Karlovic’s record of aces served on the ATP Tour. His height has been mentioned as a huge asset on serve.
However, the technique to keep up the quality has been key in making it work over a long period of time.
Anybody that watched his dismantling of Andy Murray at Wimbledon in 2022 could attest to that.
“Grandpa” (his college nickname) was also involved in two of the longest fifth sets in Wimbledon history, most recently the 24-26 loss to fellow colossus Kevin Anderson in the 2018 semis.
When the former top ten player beat Nicholas Mahut 70-68 in the 2010 SW19 Championships fifth-set decider, it had a huge impact on his next match.
This was the longest match in history, at just over 11 hours stretched across three days.
Isner lost after just 74 minutes in straight sets to Thiemo De Bakker. There wasn’t even a single ace in sight. He holds the third-fastest delivery ever recorded at 157.2 mph.
4. Jerzy Janowicz 6’ 8”
Janowicz’s parents were both volleyball players, so he was always likely to reach for the stars in some way.
His height and extra stepladder ball toss ensure that his serve was (and still is) one of the most potent on tour reaching speeds of up to 156mph.
The Lodz resident must be one of the most talented players to have never won an ATP Tour title.
In the 2012 Paris Masters, he beat heavyweights like Andy Murray and Janko Tipsarevic but lost at the business end to one of the most diminutive players, David Ferrer.
Janowicz’s greatest moment was reaching the semi-finals of Wimbledon 2013 where he took on Murray in front of a crowd desperate for the Scot to make the final.
Janowicz had his chances and was one set all and 4-2 up on his serve in the third, but his mentality was always a weak point and it showed. He lost in four.
5. Kevin Anderson 6’ 8”
The BFG South African became the tallest man ever to appear in a Grand Slam final when he was defeated in straight sets by Rafa Nadal at the 2017 US Open.
He made another huge indent on the “big three” the very next year at SW19, defeating Roger Federer in the quarter-finals after being two sets down.
Unfortunately, Anderson’s frame was no advantage in the final against Novak Djokovic as he cited the fatigue of spending 21 hours on the court just getting there.
His semi-final match with fellow “bot” Isner saw a final set that lasted almost three hours.
Still, before Anderson retired in May 2022, he had won seven ATP titles, including the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport.
He also boasted a top career ranking of 5.
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