'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
With the tennis season in slumber mode, it’s time to start coming up with pointless and completely subjective analyses of any and every thing to do with the technicalities of the game. So here we are, unfurling a series of articles on what we believe are the best shots owned by players active in the tennis world today. Like all things in tennis, the discussion begins with the single most important stroke in any racquet sport – the serve.
Men – The Contenders: Ivo Karlovic, John Isner, Robin Soderling, Tomas Berdych, Marin Cilic, Juan Martin del Potro, Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, Sam Querrey, Taylor Dent, Mardy Fish, Kevin Anderson
As you’d expect, a player’s height plays a crucial role in the quality of his serve; in fact, so much so, that it almost seems unfair. Of the 12 contenders I listed above, only 3 (Federer, Fish and Roddick) are less than 6’3” tall. It’s all about the physics – the greater the height from which the ball comes crashing down off the racquet, the better chance it will have of clearing the net, consequently enhancing all the major factors that are responsible for the effectiveness of a serve. You get more pace, greater consistency, sharper angles and higher bounce – in short, everything that you need for a good first serve.
But before we hastily give the award to the tallest and strongest of these players, we should take note of another critical component of the serve – the second serve. There’s a saying in the tennis world that goes something like “You’re only as good a player as your second serve”. What do you do when your first strike fails you? Here, again, a good height does come in handy, but the advantage is not as pronounced. Andy Murray would have found his name up there in the contenders’ list if he didn’t have such a creampuff second serve. Rafael Nadal may not have the most lethal first serve (although his recent exploits at the US Open seem to indicate otherwise), but he is one of the best at outwitting his opponents with cleverly disguised and subtly varied second serves. Speaking of disguise and variation, few people in history have mastered either of those arts on the serve the way Roger Federer has. Any professional player will tell you that returning a 140 mph missile that you know is coming down the T is a lot easier than getting back a 125 mph serve that you have no idea is going in which direction.
So who has the best combination of a blowtorch first serve and an unattackable second serve? Speaking purely from a technical standpoint, Roddick should marginally edge ahead of the rest of the field – he owns the record of the fastest serve ever, his first serve percentages usually hover above 65%, and he’s got a decent enough second delivery. And what of Karlovic and Isner? They don’t need as much pace on their first serves as everyone else because of their ridiculous height (Isner is 6’9” and Karlovic is 6’10”), and their first serve percentages can rival those of Roddick. But serving is about more than just pace or angles. The ability to produce your best serves when you most need them is the factor that really separates the good servers from the great ones. Federer scores highly here – I’ve lost count of the number of times he’s saved a breakpoint with an ace or an unreturnable. The one player who does well in ALL of the criteria I have mentioned, however, is the one player that we’ve been pining to see on the court for about 7 months now – Juan Martin del Potro. Before he was sent into tennis oblivion by a debilitating wrist injury that forced him to have surgery, he just about had it all on his serve – pace, bounce, consistency, variation, angle and most importantly, the ability to unleash his mightiest bombs when under pressure. Here’s hoping we get to see more of that devastating weapon soon.
Winner: Juan Martin del Potro
Women – The Contenders: Venus Williams, Samantha Stosur, Serena Williams, Yanina Wickmayer, Nadia Petrova, Maria Sharapova, Jarmila Groth
Sure, the women’s game may not be as obviously predicated on the serve as the men’s game is, but the stroke does hold its own unique place on the WTA tour. Yanina Wickmayer is among the few young starlets to use the serve as a weapon rather than a point-starter, and she has the results to back up her aggressive approach. Sam Stosur has gone from being a little-known doubles specialist to a serious contender at the singles Slams primarily because almost no player today has an effective answer to her nasty kick serve. Sharapova, before her shoulder injury fiasco, had a serve that could put the fear of God in her opponents’ hearts. Jarmila Groth is a somewhat obscure player whose best claim to fame is that she has continued the Australian tradition of producing competent servers. And Nadia Petrova’s serve is perhaps the only stroke in her arsenal that she can command complete control over in her worst meltdowns.
As elegantly effective as they come: The Serena Serve
Honestly though, when talking about the best serve among the women, is there really any point in bandying about names in this fashion? There’s only one name that demands serious consideration in this conversation – Williams. Venus and Serena have radically revolutionized the women’s game, and nowhere is that more evident than in their serves. Venus has the faster first serve (the fastest in history, actually), but Serena has greater consistency, both with her first serve and the second. Two things clinch the award in favor of Serena – 1. the astonishingly low number of double faults she makes despite possessing one of the most aggressive second serves in the world, and 2. the way she can, in much the same manner as del Potro (and she’s been doing it for far longer than del Potro has – the Argentine comes off as a kid in nappies in this comparison), completely disregard the match situation and produce her most ferocious serves when she most needs them. If you ever need to see an exhibition of how a serve is supposed to work in the game of tennis, all you have to do is watch replays of all of Serena’s matches from this year’s Wimbledon. Now THAT was one heck of a serving display.
Winner: Serena Williams
Read about the best shots in tennis:
