As the first shot of every point, the serve has always been the key stroke in tennis. Without a good serve players will invariably struggle to make the highest level and while you do not have to be the tallest on tour to serve well the extra inches certainly help.
At 6 foot 10 inches Ivo Karlovic of Croatia (currently trading at 48 to take this week's title in Basel) is not only the tallest man ever to compete on the ATP Tour but also an outstanding server who leads most of the service category statistics recorded throughout the season.
Because Karlovic strikes the ball from a greater height than anyone else his angle of delivery over the net means he not only has a greater margin for error than anyone else but also can make the ball lift off the court service higher than anyone else and harder to return.
Not surprisingly Karlovic is the only man prior to this week who has already served more than 1,000 aces in 2007 with 1,194! His compatriot Ivan Ljubicic is second on the list with 859, while Andy Roddick of the United States third with 708.
If you then average out the number of aces served by each of them per match played this season Karlovic again tops the pile with 20.59, compared to Ljubicic's 14.08 and Roddick's 12.00. But it is no coincidence that the second tallest player on tour - the 6ft 9in American John Isner - has the second highest average of aces per match at 19.62.
Roddick's 155mph serve three years ago in the Davis Cup remains the quickest on record and he continues to fire fastest more regularly than anyone else having done so at this year's Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open (Ljubicic was quicker at the French Open).
Karlovic was never far off the pace and when it comes to the percentage of first serve points won the giant Croat is the best again with 84%, Roddick second with 81% and Ljubicic third with 79%. Karlovic and Roddick are also the top two in service games won with a staggering 95% and 92% respectively.
But it is worth noting that the world No.1 Roger Federer who is a mere 6ft1in tall, features highly in all the above categories: 4th for total number of aces with 516 (at an average per match of 8.19), 6th in first serve points won with 77% and third in service games won with 89%. He also leads the tour in second serve points won with 58% because he places it so well and does more with the ball than most.
In addition, how players deal with pressure on big points when they are serving invariably sorts out the men from the boys. So often Federer, or in the past Pete Sampras, has produced great serves when break, set or match points down - the mark of true champions.
Yet with such a phenomenal serve Karlovic clearly leads the list when it comes to break points saved this season with 75%. Interestingly world No.2 Rafael Nadal is second with 69% while world No.3 Novak Djokovic, Roddick, Federer and Ljubicic are all up there in the top 10.
But as Karlovic and his like will be well aware, there is thankfully still so much more to tennis than just holding your serve. What you lack in height and service power you can make up for with great returns and ground strokes, speed and court craft - just look at David Ferrer of Spain who although over a foot shorter than Karlovic, heads the category of return games won with 37% and is ranked 19 places higher than the Croat at No.6.
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