Is Roddick's serve really that great...

[!Tym]

Originally Posted by Nadal2

As for disguise, I would say Ivanisevic. Yeah, Sampras, but people rarely even got a glimpse of Ivanisevic's toss he hit it so quickly.

Exactly you hit the nail on the head. Ivanisevic's toss was a blur, that's why his first serve when on was so difficult to pick up and read and the single greatest contributor to the ace column of any first serve ever, including Roddick's.

[Rickson]

I have never seen Andy miss the wall when his opponent missed the return, whether it was an ace or a fault. I've seen many other players 1 bounce the wall, but Andy nails the wall with no extra bounce every time. Yes, Andy's serve is all that and a bag of chips.

[BreakPoint]

In a word, "YES". I saw a few of Roddick's matches live at the Siebel Open this year sitting right next to the court. When he hits that 140mph+ serve, IT IS SCARY!!!! It literally sounds like a bomb went off as the loud bang echoes in the indoor arena. Sitting behind the baseline, the ball comes so hard and fast that it seems impossible to return. Shalken made the same comment about Roddick's serve after his QF loss to him at Wimbledon.

[ibelieveinliquidmetal]

I've heard that Roddick has been using his service motion since 12, probably even younger. Has he had any shoulder problems throughout his life?

[sarpmas]

Andy's serve (1st serve) may seem to lack accuracy or disguise or variely, mainly because the priority of his serve is power/pace. His service motion is just like a volleyball player jumping to spike the ball, pure power/pace. I'm sure he could place his serve, but that's not his aim. At the wimbledon final, they did an analysis on the reaction time for an opponent to Andy's serve, it was just a mere 0.54 sec! With such power/pace, you don't need placement because like someone mentioned before, even if you can return Andy's serve, you can't attack it. This will set up nicely for Andy's next shot.

[PJVA]

I don't think Andy's serve needs to be attacked.....it just needs to be blocked back, using the pace from the serve itself. That seems to be what the players have done that manage to return his serve the best. The ones who try to take a full swing with the return end up not having time.

Time will tell what happens. Someone here mentioned the Siebel Open.....but what about Scottsdale where his back was bothering him and he was beaten by Vince Spadea? I have heard through the grapevine that Andy is getting his shoulder iced for three hours after a match.

[Nadal2]

3 hours a day is a lot of icing. But that doesn't necessarily mean it's because of his motion. It's really difficult to have to serve everyday for a week. It doesn't take long for your shoulder to get sore.

[Chanchai]

I'm really enjoying all these posts. They are for everyone, but Thanks!

Lol, my first concern on developing my serve was disguise... but when I talk about pro serves, I totally forgot it... sigh...

Indeed, I would easily agree that disguise is the leading contributor to ace counts.

So rumor has it Roddick's doing the MLB Pitcher routine eh? Guess we'll have to wait and see in a few years for sure.

-Chanchai

[JohnThomas1]

Some great reading here. I believe one of the biggest factors between a great serfve and an out of this world serve is the ability to conjure up the big serve when MOST NEEDED. Sampras was a marvel at this. Whenever he was in trouble on a big point lookout, because his serve sure was there when it was most needed. Truly great servers have this ability.

[bravestennis]

i don't know, i think 60 service winners in a 3 set match means you got a good serve. Federer wiffed a few.

[gregraven]

Originally Posted by 10HOF

(snip) ... Andy without the serve, is only a top 50 player, not top 3!!!

Top 50 is still a pretty darned good player.