Juniors Groth and Andrew Kennaugh of Great Britain made it to the finals of the
2005 Wimbledon boys' doubles championship, coming runners up to
Jesse Levine and
Michael Shabaz 6–4, 6–1.
2007–2013: Fastest serve on record In 2007, Groth beat compatriot
Mark Philippoussis; subsequently, Philippoussis focused on the senior's tour. Groth qualified for the ATP event in
Nottingham where he defeated Britain's
Jamie Baker 7–6, 6–3 in the first round. He lost his second round match to seeded
Gilles Simon 7–6(7–1), 4–6, 4–6. At the 2009
Australian Open he set a record for the fastest serve by a male player (232 km/h). He lost in the qualification to Wimbledon 2009 to
Jesse Levine 4–6, 7–6, 5–7. In 2012, during an ATP Challenger in Busan, Groth hit the
fastest serve on record with a ace, but lost the match to
Uładzimir Ihnatsik, 4–6, 3–6. In November 2013, he reached the final of the
Champaign Challenger, eventually losing in 3 sets to
Tennys Sandgren 6–3, 3–6, 6–7. However, by reaching the final there, and the semi-final of
Dunlop World Challenge the following week, his ranking improved to a career high of no.173.
2014 In 2014, Groth was awarded a wildcard into the main draw at the
Brisbane International, where he made his first
ATP World Tour quarterfinal appearance. On 8 January, Groth was awarded a wildcard into the main draw at the
Australian Open, albeit lost in the first round to 28th seed,
Vasek Pospisil in straight sets. In March, Groth qualified for the
Indian Wells Masters, although, his journey in the tournament didn't last long as he lost in the first round to
Mikhail Kukushkin, [4–7] in the third set tie-break. On 17 March, Groth entered and won the
Rimouski Challenger in Canada. This was his first
Challenger tour title. Two weeks later, he made the final of the
León Challenger, but lost to no.1 seed,
Rajeev Ram. This success shot him up to a new career high world ranking of 136. At the
French Open, Groth made it to the last round of
qualifying, but lost to
Simone Bolelli 4–6, 2–6. This was his best French Open result to date. He partnered
Andrey Golubev in the
Men's doubles, where they made it to the semifinal. This increased his doubles ranking to a career high of no.41. In June, Groth made the final of the
Nottingham Challenge but lost to compatriot
Nick Kyrgios 6–7(3–7), 6–7(7–9). Groth made his Wimbledon debut after winning his way through
qualifying, but lost in the first round to
Alexandr Dolgopolov in straight sets. In July, Groth entered the
Hall of Fame Open, where he reached his maiden ATP semi-final, defeating defending champion
Nicolas Mahut in the quarterfinal. This achievement saw him break into the top 100 rankings for the first time in his career. In August, Groth won his first Grand Slam match, defeating
Albert Ramos Viñolas 6–3, 7–6(7–5), 6–3 in the
US Open. In the second round, he was defeated by
Roger Federer in straight sets 4–6, 4–6, 4–6.
2015 Groth started the 2015 season at the
2015 Brisbane International, where he was awarded a wildcard into the main draw. He defeated defending champion and compatriot
Lleyton Hewitt in the first round, and then
Łukasz Kubot in the second round before losing to eventual finalist
Milos Raonic in the quarterfinals 6–7(5–7), 6–3, 6–7(2–7). At the
Australian Open, Groth defeated
Filip Krajinović in the first round, compatriot
Thanasi Kokkinakis in the second round before losing to another compatriot
Bernard Tomic in the third round. This was his best grand slam performance to date. In February, Groth headed to North America and lost in the second round of the
Memphis Open to eventual runner-up
Kevin Anderson. Groth lost in the first round of the
Delray Beach Open,
Abierto Mexicano Telcel,
Indian Wells and the
Miami Open. He then played the
U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships and defeated
Víctor Estrella Burgos in the first round. He then played top seed
Feliciano López in the second round where he lost in straight sets. Groth then played at the
Santaizi Challenger as the 2nd seed. He cruised through to the final where he defeated
Konstantin Kravchuk to win the title. His next tournament was the
Busan Open where he was again the 2nd seed. He defeated compatriot
Alex Bolt in the first round but then lost to
Franko Škugor. At the
French Open, Groth led 21st seed
Pablo Cuevas by a set in the first round, before being run down in 4 sets. at the
2015 Wimbledon Championships. Groth started his grass court season at the
Manchester Challenger where he reached the final and defeated compatriot
Luke Saville to win the title. He then competed at the ATP
Mercedes Cup where he defeated
Sergiy Stakhovsky in the first round. He then scored his first top 20 win by defeating world number 12
Feliciano López to reach the quarterfinal. At
Wimbledon, Groth defeated 31st seed
Jack Sock in the round of 128, compatriot
James Duckworth in the round 64 to set up a third round match against
Roger Federer. In this 3rd round match, he made the second fastest serve ever at the Wimbledon tournament (147 mph), and was the only player to take a set off of Federer in until the final, losing to the 7-time champion 4–6, 4–6, 7–6(7–5), 2–6. Groth then represented Australia at the
Davis Cup in the quarterfinal. Australia was down 2–0 to Kazakhstan when Groth played the doubles rubber with
Lleyton Hewitt. The pair won in straight sets to take the tie to 2–1. Groth then replaced
Nick Kyrgios to play
Mikhail Kukushkin where he defeated him in 4 sets to level the tie at 2–2. Hewitt then won the 5th rubber to ensure Australia a place in the Davis Cup semi-finals with a come from behind win. Groth next contested the
Bogotá Open as the 6th seed where he defeated
Guido Pella before losing to former world number 8
Radek Štěpánek in straight sets. He then played at the
Atlanta Open and defeated
Frances Tiafoe in the first round. He then lost to eventual finalist and fifth seed
Marcos Baghdatis in 3 sets. Groth then competed at the
Citi Open, where he reached his first ATP500 Quarterfinal after defeating
Thomaz Bellucci, 9th seeded
Viktor Troicki and 7th seeded
Feliciano López before losing to eventual champion
Kei Nishikori. This was also the first time Groth defeated back-to-back top 20 players. Groth next played at the
Winston-Salem Open and defeated
Jared Donaldson before losing to eventual semi-finalist
Steve Johnson. At the
US Open, Groth defeated former world number 13
Alexandr Dolgopolov in the first round, before losing to 26th seed
Tommy Robredo in the second round. Groth also played the
Men's doubles with Lleyton Hewitt, bowing out with a loss in the second round.
2016: Loss of form Groth began 2016 with a wildcard entry into the
Brisbane International. He lost to
Chung Hyeon in the first round. He also lost in round one at the
Sydney International to
Federico Delbonis. At the
Australian Open, Groth defeated
Adrian Mannarino before losing to number 2 seed
Andy Murray in the second round. Groth partnered
Lleyton Hewitt in the men's doubles at the
Australian Open, making it to the third round. Groth played for Australia in
Davis Cup losing his singles match to
John Isner in straight sets. He had a first round loss at the first
Masters 1000 of the year at
Indian Wells to
Leonardo Mayer. Groth then defeated
Víctor Estrella Burgos at the
Miami Open before going down to
Dominic Thiem in the second round. At the
French Open, Groth lost in round 1 to 9-time champion
Rafael Nadal. At
Wimbledon, Groth lost in the first round to
Kei Nishikori. Groth had a last-minute call-up to represent Australia at the
2016 Summer Olympics in
Rio de Janeiro, albeit losing to Belgium's
David Goffin in the first round. Groth played across North America with limited success on the
ATP singles World Tour, although the misery was short-lived as he won his second doubles title in
Newport before returning to the Challenger Circuit, winning his 4th singles title in
Las Vegas. Groth ended the 2016 season as the world no.185 rank.
2017 Groth began 2017 with a wildcard into the
2017 Brisbane International, where he defeated
Pierre-Hugues Herbert before losing to
Dominic Thiem in the second round. Groth reached the quarterfinal of the
2017 Canberra Challenger, losing to eventual champion
Dudi Sela. Groth lost in the first round of
2017 Australian Open to
Steve Darcis, before pairing up with
Chris Guccione to reach the quarterfinal of the doubles, losing to eventual champions
Henri Kontinen and
John Peers. In February, Groth was selected to play in the first round of the
2017 Davis Cup against the
Czech Republic, he paired with
John Peers to win the doubles and taking Australia to a whitewash victory of 3–0. Groth toured to North America, beginning by losing qualifying in the singles for
Indian Wells Masters, then at the
Drummondville Challenger he also lost qualifying in the singles, before going onto win the doubles at Drummondville. In June, Groth made the semi-final of
Ilkley Trophy.
2018: Retirement The
2018 Australian Open turned out to be Groth's last tournament before his retirement. He lost in his singles quarterfinal match to
Taylor Fritz. He paired with former world no. 1 compatriot
Lleyton Hewitt in doubles, where they reached the quarterfinals. He also paired with compatriot
Samantha Stosur in the mixed doubles. ==ATP career finals==