Is there such thing as an unbreakable serve?

[Cassius Clay]

What if a player devoted himself to practising only and exclusively his serve 12 hours a day since an early age? He would become terribly proficient at it and could hit balls with oustanding power and fail-safe placement forever. He would be unbreakable.

Then, as he would suck at pretty much the rest of the necessary skills to play tennis, he would have to wait for the tie-break and hope for an unforced error from his rival on serve.

I know it sounds crazy, but we all know how good one-dimensional people are at their thing. For example, the random guy who can score thousands of free throws in a row, or the one who can juggle with a soccer ball better than any top player.

 

[DjokerIsTheBest]

One word: Karlovic

 

[Cassius Clay]

One word: Karlovic

Well, he is not infallible, he gets broken every now and then.

 

[bolo]

The problem for these guys seems to be the tiebreaks, too many 50/50 chances even from the LOWER ranked guys. Then of course there are uncanny returners like ferrer and murray, and to a lesser degree federer and you have to not run into those guys as well. Sometimes, because no one can be bothered to watch their matches, you wonder how karlovic loses, but it inevitably happens tournament after tournament.

What is karlovic's typical 1st serve %, does anyone know?

 

[Legend of Borg]

What about the mental aspect to serving?

Being a proficient server since the age of 12 does not guarantee you won't choke in the tiebreak at Wimbledon.

There's more to just being 7' and technically sound.

 

[Polaris]

What if a player devoted himself to practising only and exclusively his serve 12 hours a day since an early age? He would become terribly proficient at it and could hit balls with oustanding power and fail-safe placement forever. He would be unbreakable.

Then, as he would suck at pretty much the rest of the necessary skills to play tennis, he would have to wait for the tie-break and hope for an unforced error from his rival on serve.

As hypotheticals go, this is a bad one (even by TT@TW's abysmal standards). If someone practiced serving 12 hours a day 24/7/365, he or she would develop rotator cuff, arm and back injuries and be forced to give up tennis.

The question of serving proficiency, and waiting for the tie-break does not arise.

 

[Andres]

The problem for these guys seems to be the tiebreaks, too many 50/50 chances even from the LOWER ranked guys. Then of course there are uncanny returners like ferrer and murray, and to a lesser degree federer and you have to not run into those guys as well. Sometimes, because no one can be bothered to watch their matches, you wonder how karlovic loses, but it inevitably happens tournament after tournament.

What is karlovic's typical 1st serve %, does anyone know?

65%, give or take.

 

[dominikk1985]

no not possible.

there are many good serves but there is also the mental aspect and consistency.

if ivo hits 3 first serves in he will usually win that game. but no one is that consistent and players also have nerves. at some point every player will miss some first serves and then good return players have their chance.

 

[cucio]

That wouldn't be real tennis.

 

[Rock Strongo]

That wouldn't be real tennis.

Because real tennis has rallies and is played on a clay court, as said by Fernando the philosopher.

 

[F-T-S]

I think you would suck so bad at returns you would always lose the tiebreaker since they could simply guess a side each time.

 

[Manus Domini]

Answer (daily double and a triple assonance):

sampras' second serve

 

[Polaris]

Answer (daily double and a triple alliteration):

sampras' second serve

You're welcome .

 

[yemenmocha]

Well, he is not infallible, he gets broken every now and then.

And he breaks other people too. He isn't just a serve, though it is a major weapon for him.

 

[jkang909]

he would eventually get so bored of serving that he would attempt to commit suicide

 

[Manus Domini]

You're welcome .

Thanks

Oh yeah, assonance would be "annoying apples" >.< Such a stupid, stupid mistake.

Hate late nights >.<

 

[bolo]

65%, give or take.

Thanks, that's a little surprising. When I looked at some numbers for roddick he was around 65% too, I would have thought karlovic would have been higher. The numbers for milos that I have seen have been around 65% as well.

 

[sureshs]

Yes, just go wide every time. I don't know why pros don't exclusively practise that one.