10 Most Obscure Tennis Record Holders

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There are many record holders in tennis in different areas, and the majority of them are famous. 

Some of the records are very obvious, like number of Grand Slam tournaments won over career, win-loss record in the career, speed of serve, height of players, etc.

Most of the records, in fact, are held by obvious names like Roger Federer, Pete Sampras and Jimmy Connors.

There are few record-holders who are obscure to the tennis fans. The names in this list are not known much to the majority of the tennis world. 

While some records make the holders proud, there are others that are not so great to appear in a player's resume.

Let us look at 10 such record holders.

Tallest Player on Tour

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Ivo Karlovic is the tallest player on the tour, standing at 6'10" (208 cm). His height has probably helped him fire numerous aces in most of his matches.

In records kept since 1991, Karlovic has the fastest second-serve recorded in a match against Andy Roddick, at 144 MPH.

In 2007, Karlovic had the most aces in the season (1,318), which stands second on the all-time list (next to Goran Ivanisevic).

On the top-10 list of most number of aces in a match, Karlovic appears five times—proof enough of his prowess as the Ace King.

Longest Match Ever Played

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In 2010, Nicolas Mahut and John Isner played a match that would bring them into the limelight of the tennis world.

Records would tumble and the match would go on for 11 hours and five minutes of play over three days, with a final score of 6–4, 3–6, 6–7, 7–6, 70–68 in favor of Isner.

It is one record that will probably be not broken for a long time.

Both Isner and Mahut would like to end their careers with an achievement that will make one forget this endless match.

Isner has made a start, will Mahut follow?

Youngest Player to End a Year in the Top 25

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Aaron Krickstein started his career as a teenage prodigy.

His records speak volumes of his potential: He was the youngest player to end a year in the Top 100 at the age of 16 years in 1983, and in the next year, became the youngest to reach the Top 25.

Krickstein reached his career-high ATP ranking of six in 1990.

Because of his injury-plagued career, he could not reach the heights that everyone thought he would.

Consecutive Grand Slam Appearances

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Wayne Ferreira holds the record for the most consecutive Grand Slam tournament appearances in men's tennis.

Ferreira participated in 56 consecutive Grand Slams between the 1991 Australian Open and the 2004 US Open.

A semifinalist in the Australia Open, Ferreira reached a high of No. 6 ranking in 1995.

Most Double Faults Hit in a Match

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Marc Rosset lost to Michael Joyce at Wimbledon 1995, hitting 26 double faults in the process.

Rosset has also lost a huge 351 matches in his career, standing fourth on the all-time list.

Again, Rosset has done well in his career, including an Olympic gold medal in 1992 and semifinal appearance at the 1996 French Open.

A high rank of No. 9 in 1995 shows the potential Rosset had in his playing time.  

Appearances in Grand Slams

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It is a mark of his endurance that Fabrice Santoro appeared in 70 Grand Slam tournaments (including 46 consecutive appearances).

Santoro is also the only player to have appeared in Grand Slam singles in four different decades.

With such a long career, it is no wonder that he has lost a record number of matches in his career (444).

A remarkable man with a long list of records!

Most Matches Lost by Currently Active Men

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The last German player to reach a Grand Slam final, Rainer Schuettler has the dubious distinction of losing the most number of matches by active players on the ATP Tour, at 337!

It is not that Schuettler has failed miserably in his career, as Rainer reached a career-high ranking of world No. 5 in April 2004. He also ended up as the finalist in the 2003 Australian Open.

Not a great record that Rainer Schuettler would like to think about. He stands sixth in the overall list of losers on ATP Tour and would like to end his career the same way.

Shortest Player on Tour

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The shortest player on the ATP tour is Olivier Rochus, standing at 5'4" (163 cm).

Rochus has done well in his career despite his lack of height, with a career-high ranking of No. 24 in 2005.

Having started his playing days by partnering Roger Federer on the junior circuit (and winning at Wimbledon in 1998), Rochus will do well to achieve even a fraction of his erstwhile partner.

Olympic Gold Medalist

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Nicolas Massu holds the record for being the only man to have won both the singles and doubles gold medals in the Olympics (2004).

Despite not reaching beyond the fourth round in any Grand Slam tournaments, Massu could pull off the feat in a field that consisted of Mardy Fish and Fernando Gonzalez

A ranking high of world No. 9 in his career does not justify his feat of winning double golds in the Olympics.

Fastest Serve Recorded

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A new entrant into the record books: Samuel Groth fired the fastest serve on the ATP Tour in the Busan Challenger tournament this year. His serve was recorded at 163 MPH (263 KPH).

Samuel's current ranking is No. 394, nothing to write home about.

A career record of two wins (and three losses) is something that he would be looking forward to.