Karlovic held the record for the most aces in ATP Tour history until 2022, when John Isner broke the record.

The American recently retired himself after hitting a colossal 14,470 aces throughout his career.

This includes Isner hitting 113 alone against Nicolas Mahut in a historic Wimbledon victory that lasted 11 hours and five minutes.

While Isner and Karlovic are no longer present on the ATP Tour, a new serving powerhouse has arrived in Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.

Despite its benefits, being tall has been proved not to be an essential trait for ATP players to succeed.

Diego Schwartzman, who is retiring at the Argentina Open, is just 5 feet and 7 inches and has been able to break inside the world’s top 10 in the ATP rankings during his career.

While Schwartzman has enjoyed a very successful career, a player the same height as him went onto accomplish even greater things.

Ken Rosewall is the shortest man to win a Grand Slam singles title

Standing at just 5 foot and 7 inches, Ken Rosewall is not your usual tennis champion.

The Australian’s height was often referenced to, with Rosewall adopting the sarcastic nickname ‘muscles’ in reference to his slight frame.

At the time, three of the four major tournaments were played on grass courts, which could expose a player like Rosewall who did not have the biggest of serves.

Known for his agility and footwork, Rosewall did not let his height prevent him from achieving success and began doing so from a young age.

At just 18-years-old and two months, Rosewall won his first Grand Slam title at the then called Australasian Championships by beating Mervyn Rose in the 1953 final.

It was not just grass courts that Rosewall’s game was effective on, having won the French Championships just months later.

Rosewall was only the second Australian man to win a Grand Slam singles title on clay at that time, following Jack Crawford.

He went onto win two more major titles at the Australasian Championships and the US Championships before 1957.

This is when he signed a professional contract, meaning that Rosewall was unable to compete at major tournaments between 1957 and 1967.

He returned to Grand Slam tennis in style when the Open Era began in 1968, winning his second Roland Garros title by beating his compatriot Rod Laver.

Laver would get revenge in the Roland Garros final a year later, where he described Rosewall as his toughest opponent.

“Ken has consistently been my toughest opponent, on any surface, and we’ve played each other, I don’t know, well over 200 times,” said Laver.

To this day, Rosewall is still the youngest ever men’s Australian Open singles champion, but perhaps what is more impressive is the gap between his second and third titles.

Rosewall won his third Australian Open title in 1971 at 36-years-old, and defended his title a year later at 37-years-old.

As a result, Rosewall stands alone as the player with the most time between his first and last Grand Slam titles (19 years).

He ended his career with eight Grand Slam singles titles, with Wimbledon the only one eluding him despite reaching four finals.

Rosewall did manage to get his hands on the Wimbledon doubles title alongside Lew Hoad, and played the final match of his career at 47-years-old in 1982.

How has Ken Rosewall been honoured for his achievements?

Since retiring from tennis, Rosewall has received many honours in commemoration of his on-court achievements.

This includes some before he even stepped away from the matchcourt, with Rosewall being appointed a Member of the Order of the British empire (MBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in 1971.

Perhaps the honour that keeps Rosewall’s legacy alive the most is having a stadium court named after himself in Sydney.

In 2008, centre court at the Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre was renamed the Ken Rosewall Arena.

This court has since hosted the Sydney International, the ATP Cup and is the current host of the United Cup.

This year that court saw Coco Gauff beat Iga Swiatek, as USA won the United Cup for a second time in three years.

Rosewall has received many honors for his vast achievements, and is still alive to this day at 90-years-old.

Just two years ago at the 2023 Australian Open, Rosewall awarded the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup to Novak Djokovic after he beat Stefanos Tsitsipas to win his 10th title in Melbourne.

This was to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Rosewall’s first Australian Open victory, alongside a commemorative coin that was used before each match to decide who served first.