"Biggest second serve in history" – Nick Kyrgios recounts smashing fastest second serve in Grand Slams against Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon 2019

Nick Kyrgios recently revisited smashing the fastest second serve in Grand Slam history against Rafael Nadal at the Wimbledon Championships in the year 2019.

Once ranked as high as World No. 13, Kyrgios has fallen out of the ATP ranking cycle due to his nearly year-long absence from the tour. The last time he competed professionally was in April 2023 at the Stuttgart Open.

Moreover, the Aussie hasn't appeared at a Grand Slam tournament to date since finishing as a quarterfinalist at the 2022 US Open. However, he most recently stumbled upon an Instagram video clip of him sending a bullet in the form of a tennis ball across Rafael Nadal's court at Wimbledon nearly five years ago.

The 28-year-old locked horns with the Spaniard for a second-round showdown under an open Centre Court roof. Trailing 2-5 in the opening set, Kyrgios attempted to kickstart the eighth game with a first-serve ace but ended up pushing it marginally long.

The Australian, however, compensated for the fault immediately by firing down an ace that clocked 143 mph on the speed gun, making it the fastest second serve in Grand Slam tennis.

Kyrgios shared the video on his Instagram story, writing:

"Biggest second serve in history baby"

Nick Kyrgios' Instagram story

Kyrgios, however, failed to cross the line and went down 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(3) to Nadal. Later, Ben Shelton matched the Australian's record as he hit a 143 mph second serve against Novak Djokovic in the 2023 US Open semifinals.

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"I had the lightbulb moment when I beat Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon" - Nick Kyrgios on his first victory over the Spaniard

Nick Kyrgios celebrates match point against Rafael Nadal: Wimbledon 2014

Nick Kyrgios shocked the tennis world as a 19-year-old when he downed Rafael Nadal 7-6(5), 5-7, 7-6(5), 6-3 in the pre-quarterfinals of Wimbledon in 2014.

In a recent episode of his YouTube podcast in collaboration with Naomi Osaka, Kyrgios revealed that the win over Nadal inspired him to start taking professional tennis seriously.

"I guess I had the light bulb moment when I beat Nadal Center Court at Wimbledon. I was going to school. I mean I didn't even know how good I was at that time," he said.

Further, he remembered going through the list of players who had defeated the 22-time Grand Slam champion to find out that he had reached the echelons the likes of Roger Federer and Andy Murray operated at. The names motivated him to work on his craft with more discipline.

"I was entering the tournament then it happened and then I saw this list of guys who had achieved what I achieved. It was like Federer, Andy Murray, and I was like 'Okay! Maybe I got to start taking it seriously. Maybe I got to get up off the video games for 6 hours a day, actually eat, actually train," Nick Kyrgios added.