Better serve: McEnroe or Federer

[gennosuke]

Not sure if this belongs here or Former players forum.

[sunof tennis]

Hard to compare since Mac played much of his career with very different equipment. I believe he says that he can serve as hard now as he could in his prime because of the new technology. Both rely on placement and spin as opposed to pure speed. Fed's serve might be objectively better but Mac's serve was just as effective because he took full advantage of his being left handed.

[helloworld]

Mcenroe was one of the best server in his generation. Federer is not even top 5 server in his generation(Karlovic, Isner, Roddick, Johansson, Querry were better servers). I'd take McEnroe on the serve department, but not by much.

[tennis_pro]

Originally Posted by helloworld

Mcenroe was one of the best server in his generation. Federer is not even top 5 server in his generation(Karlovic, Isner, Roddick, Johansson, Querry were better servers). I'd take McEnroe on the serve department, but not by much.

Gooby, please.

When did McEnroe face sticks and trees like Isner or Karlovic who do nothing all day but practice their serves? Name one.

I take Federer's serve without thinking twice and it's not even close.

[Golden]

This is Talk Tennis. Of course Federer is going to win it.

[smoledman]

Of course Goderer wins the poll.

[AnotherTennisProdigy]

Accuracy wise I think Federer wins, but I'll pick McEnroe just because his lefty serve was harder to deal with.

[Praetorian]

Well seeing as most people are judging the geriatric McEnroe serve they see in WTT, and comparing it to Federer's server we can readily watch today, I'd say Federer's as well. But if you take into account the effectiveness against the competition (Federer vs. today players, vs, 80s McEnroe vs 80s players), I say Mac had the edge. Now if they both were born in 2012, who knows who would have a better serve, though I would give the nod to Mac.

[veritech]

Originally Posted by Golden

This is Talk Tennis. Of course Federer is going to win it.

he would probably win it on most forums.

[mental midget]

what do the statistics say? it's obviously a weapon for both of them. without checking the numbers i would guess that federer's second serve is the better of the two.

[Ramon]

My vote goes to McEnroe: better variety, great disguise, wicked spin.

[The Meat]

I'd pick Federer because of the variety(kick, slice, flat, haven't seen him do a reverse serve yet but still waiting), and aesthetics(smooth and almost effortless).

[AnotherTennisProdigy]

Here are some serving stats-

Federer-

First serve - 63%
First serve points won - 78%
Second serve points won - 60%
Service games won - 91%
Service points won - 71%

McEnroe

First serve - 52%
First serve points won - 67%
Second serve points won - 42%
Service games won - 70%
Service points won - 55%

The stats are favoring Fed even though I voted McEnroe. It seems that McEnroe struggles much more with his second serve than Federer does.

[gennosuke]

Stats are so meanigless here it's not even funny.

These include Mac after his one year break.

Also, if you come in after your serve all the time, it makes your winning percentage lower obviously.

[forzamilan90]

Fed's up there with the best all time servers, not the fastest serve, but boy is it fundamental to his dominance

[Smasher08]

I probably should have voted "close", but when it appeared on the scene back in the late 70s, Johnny Mac's serve was the wickedest thing around.

Fed's is great and efficient and deadly, but Mac's had just that little bit more style.

[tennis_pro]

Originally Posted by gennosuke

Stats are so meanigless here it's not even funny.

These include Mac after his one year break.

Also, if you come in after your serve all the time, it makes your winning percentage lower obviously.

It certainly wouldn't be higher if Mac decided to stay behind the baseline

[AnotherTennisProdigy]

^^

I was about to say that, it would probably be lower if he didn't come to the net

[NadalDramaQueen]

Originally Posted by gennosuke

Stats are so meanigless here it's not even funny.

These include Mac after his one year break.

Also, if you come in after your serve all the time, it makes your winning percentage lower obviously.

Right, better to talk completely out of your *** rather than attempt to back it up.

[hcb0804]

Fed for sure.