249.4 Kilometers Per Hour, Serving at the Speed of Light

“Lightspeed Server” Andy Roddick (U.S., second seed worldwide) broke his own fastest serve record just 106 days after setting it.

On September 25, during the third set of his semi-final match against Vladimir Voltchkov at the Davis Cup in Charleston, South Carolina, Roddick fired a cannonball serve that measured 155 miles per hour (approximately 249.4 kilometers per hour). Roddick was leading, two sets to none.

This exceeds the 153 miles per hour (approximately 246.1 kilometers per hour) record Roddick set on June 11, during the quarter-final round of the ATP Stella Artois Championships held at the Queen’s Club in London.

Roddick first tied the world record Greg Rusedski (U.K., 146th seed) set in 1998, with a serve speed of 149 miles per hour (approximately 239.7 kilometers per hour) in his semi-final match-up against Andre Agassi (U.S.) at last year’s Queen’s Club tournament. Since then, he’s been on a record-breaking streak.

Roddick set another world record on February 7 while playing against Stefan Koubek (Austria) at the Davis Cup, with a serve that clocked in at 150 miles per hour (approximately 241.3 kilometers per hour).

During Saturday’s game against Voltchkov, Roddick marshaled his high-speed serves to score 17 aces in all, and defeated his opponent in three straight sets (6-1, 6-4, 6-4). When he fired the record-breaking serve, the spectators thronging the stands immediately got to their feet and congratulated him with a standing ovation.

Jong-Seok Kim kjs0123@donga.com