what a surprise....Roddick breaks serve record AGAIN

[Matt H.]

at a Davis Cup tie....

155 MPH.

He's broken the "serve speed record" at EVERY Davis Cup tie this year CONSECUTIVELY. I'm just starting to get a tainted feeling with this record, as it's become very obvious the Davis Cup radar guns are different than the regular ATP tour ones.

[Vlad]

Yeah right and Volchkov registered 245kmh on his serve which makes it about 152.2 MPH... Yeah right....

[Peter Samprer]

i remember roddick serving 156mph this year but it was out. so i'm not surprised if he keeps breaking his record. it's kinda boring breaking your own record...

[Chanchai]

At Davis Cup and at Queens Club for Roddick. But I thought it was clear that they're using different measuring equipment and the measurements occur at a different location.

The big surprise to me was at the US Open when he hit 152 twice (I think?). Did they change the speed measurement equipment at the US Open as well?

In the end though.... he serves really really fast

-Chanchai

[Tennis Guy]

Originally Posted by Chanchai

At Davis Cup and at Queens Club for Roddick. But I thought it was clear that they're using different measuring equipment and the measurements occur at a different location.

The big surprise to me was at the US Open when he hit 152 twice (I think?). Did they change the speed measurement equipment at the US Open as well?

In the end though.... he serves really really fast

-Chanchai

The Davis Cup and Queens Club are supposed to be new, more accurate ones. I'm pretty sure the one at the U.S. Open is still the same old one though.

[Peter Samprer]

every player has their specialty:

sampras/federer: all of 'em...lol! at their prime.
agassi: return of serve/great baseliner
roddick: huge serve/forehand
hewitt/chang: speed/never give up attitude
john mcenroe: anger management...lol! hey, he was in that movie...hehe!
safin: racket breaker/great groundstroke
henman: ala vampire teeth/serve & volley
etc...

[Chanchai]

I like to say "just different" because between the two measurement systems, I think we're just having difference on where serve speed should be recorded at and from which angle.

I don't really discredit the use of these machines at Davis Cup and Queens Club, but just think there's a footnote in their readings that say "measured differently than at most other ATP Tournaments."

But honestly, I don't really care too much about the speed.... it's fun to talk about though, I guess. But Roddick serves really fast, gets lots of aces. He's one of the top servers in the game today. I'm not saying he's the very best of current pros, but I toss him in the top group easily.

Then again, if the service speed gives Sports Center or other media something to talk about regarding Tennis, I'm fine with that. Though a running season ace-count throughout the year would be kinda cool--more like a homerun race in baseball hehehe.

BTW, are the duck-calls driving anyone else insane?

-Chanchai

[lenosucks]

Yea, the speeds of the serve really don't mean anything unless you compare them to other speeds from the same type of radar guns. You can't compare the speeds of a davis cup serve to those of a regular tournament serve, unless you can some how figure out the actual speed difference between the two. I would guess that the players actually do serve a bit faster in davis cup, since you have the whole crowd-factor, which is obviously very different than say wimbledon or the open.

[pound cat]

And Safin hit 140.5 to-day...and there wasn't much of a crowd factor. Skewed results .

[Vlad]

and that was on clay where Safin doesn't usually go for his biggest serves... He usually tries to place it and set up a point instead of just blasting like he does on hard..

[Fee]

Can somebody with a high speed connection and more time than I currently have search the ITF or Davis Cup website. If I remember correctly, there was an article posted there in April (maybe February) to explain the radar guns that they were using and that they were different then the guns used for ATP tournaments.

I've heard before that Queens was juiced (Andre hit his fastest serve ever there last summer, I think) and Indian Wells as well (some who doubt Rusedski ever hit 149 there that day). The ATP and the ITF should get together and agree on a standard and remove all doubt.

[VamosRafa]

As was said above, it really doesn't matter -- he's got the fastest serve on the ATP, without a doubt. And what's a few mph when you already serve that fast?

[Datacipher]

Originally Posted by Fee

I've heard before that Queens was juiced (Andre hit his fastest serve ever there last summer, I think) and Indian Wells as well (some who doubt Rusedski ever hit 149 there that day). The ATP and the ITF should get together and agree on a standard and remove all doubt.

Absolutely Fee, Queens is developing a reputation of strange serve stats and that one year when Rusedski hit 149, there were also a LOT of strange numbers coming out of there. The 142, 143, and 146mph serves(it was out) Rusedski hit in 1997 at the USO were more impressive to me, as he was using an older radar and clearly was going 10-15mph faster than the other big servers like Krajicek.

Of course serve speeds hold a natural fascination for the tennis fan and even more so the tennis player, they can be a lot of fun. Unfortunately, pretty much all records to date are meaningless. Roscoe Tanner absolutely unarguably served 140mph with a composite racquet, but how does that compare with 140mph on the ATP radar...or the getronics radar? I thought starting in the 90's we would finally have a standardized comparison but sadly the data from the last 10 years is just as subjective as the experimental data we have from the 80's, 70's, 60's etc....

[joegerardi]

Well, I just got back from Charleston, and I can tell you, that serve was damn fast! Straight down the T, right towards me.

Faster still, was the one that was clocked at 160, but long...

..Joe

ITF Press Release

Getronics to Sponsor Speed Serve Competition at Davis Cup ties

London, ENGLAND, 06 Feb 2004 - The International Tennis Federation (ITF) and Getronics, International Sponsor and Official ICT Solutions and Service Provider of the Davis Cup, are announcing a new Speed Serve Competition at the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas tie between The Netherlands and Canada in Maastricht, The Netherlands, 6 – 8 February.

The Speed Serve Competition will be the showcase for the new Speed Serve system sponsored by Getronics, where the fastest professional Davis Cup serves will be tracked throughout the year. The Davis Cup player who delivers the fastest serve throughout the World Group competition will receive a state-of-the-art wireless mobility computer system from Getronics. The rankings of the 10 fastest serves will be displayed on the Davis Cup and Getronics websites (www.daviscup.com and www.getronics.com).

Additionally, later this year Getronics will set up an amateur version of the ‘Fastest Serve of the Year Competition’. The competition will use a purpose built tennis simulator to measure the serves and fans will be able to follow their world ranking by comparison to other amateurs and the professionals competing in Davis Cup. A Getronics Trophy will be commissioned for both the professional and amateur competitions, and winners’ names will be inscribed each year.

Further, Getronics will make a donation of $1 to the ITF Tennis Development Fund every time a player serves an ace and a further donation of $1,000 each time a player breaks the world speed record in Davis Cup World Group and World Group Play-offs, up to a maximum of $10,000. The development programme includes ITF touring teams, funding for junior and professional tournaments, training centres, coaches’ education and the supply of tennis equipment.

About Speed Serve

The Speed Serve measures the entire 3D trajectory of the ball and can therefore accurately produce the speed in the direction of flight, the elevation angle at any point, the azimuth (horizontal angle) at any point and the distance traveled in flight. In addition to this it can also produce the speed of the racquet head. Through new software the ball trajectory can be replayed on a virtual court to enhance the experience of the Internet user and the production of TV graphics. An interface allows for all serve data to be automatically logged to the server and the system is programmed to store all record speed data for later, independent, verification.

About Davis Cup

Davis Cup by BNP Paribas is the largest annual international team competition in sport with 137 nations entered in 2004. The title sponsor is BNP Paribas, the Official Bank of Davis Cup. International sponsors are Adecco (Official Recruitment Partner), Fossil (Official Watch), Getronics (Official ICT Sponsor), Hugo Boss (Official Men’s Fashion Sponsor) and Kia Motors (Official Car). International partners are COLT Telecom (Official Managed Hosting Partner) and Wilson Sporting Goods (Official Ball).

About Getronics

With 22,000 employees in over 30 countries and forecast revenues of circa EUR 2.7 billion in 2003, Getronics is one of the world's leading providers of vendor independent Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solutions and services. Getronics today combines the capabilities of the original Dutch company with those of Wang Global, acquired in 1999, and of the systems and services division of Olivetti. Getronics is ranked second worldwide in network and desktop outsourcing and fourth worldwide in network consulting and integration (Source: IDC 2002-2003). Getronics designs, integrates and manages ICT infrastructures and business solutions for many of the world's largest global and local companies and organisations, helping them maximise the value of their information technology investments. Getronics headquarters are in Amsterdam, with regional offices in Boston and Singapore. Getronics’ shares are traded on Euronext Amsterdam (‘GTN’). For further information about Getronics, visit www.getronics.com. [/b]

[PureCarlosMoyaDrive]

Wait, so Voltchkov is theoretically the second fastest server ever now, right? Roddick has 156 as the record, Voltchkov is second by actual people with 152? That makes no sense.

[ChiefAce]

The guns at Davis Cup are juiced to get the crowd more pumped up. Simple as that, I won't reveal my source.

[tykrum]

Well, lets say that the guns are actually more accurate like that company says they are, and Roddick really hit one out at 160. Does anyone remember the Gilbert interview when he said that he thought Roddick could hit 160, when he hadn't even hit 150 yet? Well I guess that really makes Gilbert a true genius right?

[devila]

You didn't say that, did you? OMG