Not only was it the hottest opening day in Wimbledon history as temperatures soared to 32°C, and not only did seven Brits win – a record for any day of the Grand Slam – but we also saw the fastest ever serve.
The serve smashed the previous Wimbledon record set by Taylor Dent in 2010, by 5mph.
It was hit in the first game of the match with the roof closed on No. 1 Court and, amazingly, Mpetshi Perricard did not win the point.
Fritz managed to get the serve back in play and then got into the rally and won the point with a volley.
Mpetshi Perricard had started the match with serves of 149mph and 146mph, before making Wimbledon history. He averaged 137mph (221km/h) on his first serve and 122mph (197km/h) on his second serve.
Fritz appeared on the brink of defeat at 5-1 down in the fourth-set tie-breaker, but won seven of the next eight points to keep his hopes alive.
Eastbourne champion Fritz seemingly wanted to continue playing on Monday evening and was seen saying to his box he “couldn’t do anything” about the decision to suspend the match.
He later wrote on Instagram in reply to a post about the suspension: “They would’ve let us play if my opponent agreed to. I said I wanted to, he didn’t.”
There would have been 42 minutes remaining to complete the fifth set; the previous four sets took 44, 48, 33 and 45 minutes.
When the match resumed on Tuesday it was Fritz who emerged victorious.
There were no break points in the deciding set until the 10th game when remarkably Fritz broke to love to take the set 6-4.
What is the fastest tennis serve in history?
There is some debate over the fastest serve ever.
Sam Groth hit a serve that clocked in at 163.7mph (263.4km/h) during an ATP Challenger Tour event in South Korea in 2012.
However, as it was on the Challenger Tour – the second tier of men’s professional tennis – the tracking speed is not recognised by the ATP Tour.
The official record is held by John Isner, who hit a 157.2mph (253 km/h) serve in the Davis Cup in 2016.
Fastest serves in ATP history
| Player | Speed | Year |
| John Isner | 157.2mph (235km/h) | 2016 |
| Ivo Karlovice | 156mph (251km/h) | 2011 |
| Milos Raonic | 155.3mph (249.9km/h) | 2012 |
| Andy Roddick | 155mph (249.4km/h) | 2004 |
| Giovanni Mpeshi Pericard | 153mph (246.2km/h) | 2025 |
Ivo Karlovic is second in the list with a 156mph (253km/h) serve in the 2011 Davis Cup.
Mpetshi Perricard’s Wimbledon rocket comes in at fifth in the all-time ATP list.
The fastest serve in history on the WTA Tour was hit by Sabine Lisicki in 2014, and clocked in at 131mph (210.8km/h).
