The 90s were known for the beginning of the power game.

You had stars like Agassi that could blow you off the court with their forehands and backhands. However, within the power game emerged the big massive serve. The unbreakable server that would hit 40 aces a match. These players would especially excel at Wimbledon where the grass was fast and their serves could inflict the most damage. Let’s take a look at the top servers in the 90s in no particular order.

Boris Becker – “Boom Boom” as he was nicknamed in the 80s was the OG big server. Nobody had seen a serve like Becker’s until he arrived on the scene. He continued his massive serving into the 90s, collecting more and more trophies along the way.

Richard Krajicek – Krajicek was the quintessential big server in the 90s. he was tall (6’ 5’’) and lanky. There was nothing lanky about his beautifully natural serving delivery. It was smooth like butter, and it won him a Wimbledon title in 1996. Although it would be his only Grand Slam, Krajicek would be a staple in the top 10 in the 90s.

Mark Philippoussis – Mark didn’t have the most graceful form on his serve. He made that up with sheer power. Standing at 6’ 5’’ he was big and strong. He would only finish in the top ten once in his career (2003) after reaching the Wimbledon final. However, he terrorized the field with his powerful serve throughout the 90s.

Goran Ivanisevic – Goran’s serve was a thing of beauty. He had a very simple motion on the serve and could hit down the middle or out wide with ease. His serve would finally win him Wimbledon in 2001. He would also make three additional Wimbledon finals in the 90s, losing to Pete Sampras twice and Agassi once.

Pete Sampras – Some consider Sampras to be the greatest server of all time. I tend to agree. Pete had a combination of power, placement, and variety in his serve. He was also one of the first to introduce the second serve ace! That’s how good his first and second serves were. If he didn’t ace you with the first serve, look out because he’d ace you with the second serve. Sampras was almost impossible to break. 14 Grand Slams can be largely attributed to that indomitable serve.

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