Before I start my long-overdue update, thanks to all for the new stats and suggestions. I know I've been saying this forever but I do keep track of all the little-known service stats posted here (and elsewhere as I come across them) and plan to present them in a readable format eventually.
Also some of you might have noticed my recent treatises on many of the topics already covered here: the
steady increases in just about every major service stat (1st-serve %, % of service games won, etc.) among top players since the '90s and the reasons behind them, why we should be wary of direct comparisons of
service (and
return) stats between the recent decades as a result, the
relationship between service and return games, the useful if obscure metric of % of
unreturned serves (that is, those that the returner fails to put back in play), and of course some of the
GSOAT rankings themselves. Most of them are posted on the "Better Server on Grass: Federer or Sampras?" thread and you can follow the 1st link to brush up on these topics or keep going if you have the time and patience to read through everything (well worthwhile, and I don't say that just because I wrote them).
OK, time for the list:
1. Ivanisevic
2. Karlovic
3. Sampras
4. Gonzales
5. Krajicek
6. Arthurs
7. Roddick
8. Newcombe
9. Isner
10. McEnroe
11. Tanner
12. Becker
13. Philippoussis
14. Stich
15. Curren
16. Zivojinovic
17. Raonic
18. Federer
19. Rusedski
20. Noah
Honorary mentions:
McLoughlin, Maurice - perhaps the first distinguished cannonball serve in tennis history
Tilden - yet another storied power serve, which he bolstered with spin and accuracy
Vines - by all accounts, the best and fastest serve of the pre-WWII era
Kramer - in addition to a formidable first serve, perhaps the best second serve before Newcombe and Sampras
Denton - his unusual service motion notwithstanding, could bring enormous heat
Edberg - for his legendary kicker, arguably the best ever for serve-and-volley
Johansson, Joachim - Denton of the 2000s
Like many I've been quite impressed by Fed's recent serving streak, enough to put him ahead of Rusedski now (stats be damned). That said I'm somewhat perplexed that we have yet to come across a single match (among the 14 that I have for Fed, unless I've missed a few) where a server of his caliber had more than 50% of his serves unreturned. In fact the highest rate that I see comes way back from his lone match against Pete at '01 Wimby, standing just below 50% at 49.2%. Does anyone have a better %? You may have seen
this already but for reference below is his # of aces per service game and per match by year:
2001 - .585/7.5
2002 - .556/6.3
2003 - .638/7.3
2004 - .609/7.0
2005 - .548/7.0
2006 - .534/6.8
2007 - .615/7.8
2008 - .673/8.6
2009 - .651/9.0
2010 - .671/8.4
2011 - .558/6.6
2012 - .638/8.3
2013 - .503/6.4
2014 - .617/8.0
Now provided that his % of unreturned serves more or less has corresponded with his ace frequency his highest %s would likely come from '08-'10, the best 3-year serving stretch of his career. So far I have just 3 matches from this period, the one with the highest rate being the classic '09 Wimby final where Fed scored 44.7% of his serves as freebies against Rodddick. So maybe ace frequency isn't so helpful here after all. Anyway let me know if you've got any new stats for Fed or anyone else.
And here are a few names we still need to investigate further (listed by order of birth):
Gerald Patterson (1895)
Bob Falkenburg (1926)
Mike Sangster (1940)
Stan Smith (1946)
John Feaver (1952)
As you may have noticed, and unfair as it may be, I've removed Yvon Petra, Geoff Brown, Frank Froehling and Chip Hooper from the list (not for the 1st time in Hooper's case, I believe) simply because I just couldn't find enough helpful info about their serving prowess. And John Alexander and Scott Carnahan are also out because what I've seen so far isn't enough to convince me they belong with the best of the best (Carnahan might have won the fastest-serve competition once, but obviously we're looking for something more than that).
Again old-timers like Patterson or Falkenburg might be worth an honorary mention, and longtime posters should know I've been meaning to rank Smith for quite a while now. You know the drill: stats, press reports and firsthand accounts if available. As always much obliged!
And now one more thing....
NonP, I've said it before, but great thread. I appreciate the emphasis on stats and on careful decision-making.
(Much belated) thanks, krosero. And don't worry at all about "sidetracking" this thread! Anything that keeps it on page 1 is fine by me.
But seriously, I've never understood why it's necessary to remain strictly on topic all the time. Discussions are bound to veer off course eventually, and if you recall we had one (very lengthy) tangential discussion here on this very thread about Agassi vs. Chang as a returner and the dichotomy between return and return game in general. I think most people who followed it would agree that it was anything but a useless tangent to the main topic, and I don't see why discussions of Vines' storied serve or the fallibility of human memory with respect to his or other players' injuries would be any different.
And even if the "sideshows" had nothing to do with the topic I still wouldn't mind as long as they're done in a fun and chivalrous spirit. Like many posters I had issues with BobbyOne (bless his heart), but I did enjoy discussing music with him (though I might add that it began as a result of his characteristic refusal to budge on a simple factual matter...) and still remember our exchanges from that time fondly. And I'd hate to begrudge the same pleasure of banter on this or any other thread.
To his great credit Dan, when I first posted the list of snippets describing Vines' serve that year, withdrew the claim of underhand serving. He has since said that Vines pulled a muscle in '39 which affected his serving -- and I agree with that; I think there's good evidence for it, though I still have many questions about it.
This may well be the only time I've seen Dan admit his error on anything.

Can you provide a link? (I'm only half joking, BTW.)
There is no doubt in my mind, whatsoever, that Vines was one of the greatest servers of all time. I had merely assumed it to be true, because that's his reputation; but now after my extensive research of his decade, I know it to be true.
Yes, I've been following your posts on Vines and I do think he's up there with Gonzales and maybe Kramer as one of the indisputable pre-Open era GSOAT candidates. Like I said I might as well add him to the list altogether along with Gonzales eventually, though at the same time I don't want to open the Pandora's box so to speak and rely so much on guesstimates for every old-timer. As you can see I'm rather torn on this one. We'll see.