Kyrgios vs Ivanisevic - who had the better serve?

[psYcon]

After watching tonight's Miami SF it seems obvious Kyrgios has a great first and second serve, with accurate placement, unpredictability and clutch.

However there is one other individual in history with similar height (6'4) who did the same as Kyrgios, perhaps with even better placement, # aces / serve, and unpredictability, albeit not as clutch perhaps. And that person is Goran Ivanisevic.

Being a lefty Goran did get added advantage but overall from serve perspective they are fairly similar in result. Thoughts as to whom you consider better and reason why?

 

[Kalin]

Mybe a bit early to judge; right now I still have Goran because he kept on doing it for so long.

What is fascinating is how both of them are much more than the serve but also how both of them head some of this head-case thing going for/against them. Hope Nick K. puts it to better use than Goran did.

 

[SinjinCooper]

Goran by a factor of about a thousand.

Goran might just be the most impressive server of all time. Kyrgios is maybe top five at the moment, and the moment isn't particularly strong.

 

[70後]

Being a lefty Goran did get added advantage but overall from serve perspective they are fairly similar in result.

They're fairly similar in result. K regularly serves over 200 aces at Wimbledon, usually while playing a Sampras or a Fed in the final. Er... no.

 

[AngryBirds]

The sheer number of aces should tell you that Goran's serve is on the same level as Karlovic. Kyrgios is not even in the conversation.

 

[jstr]

In terms of serving mechanics, both K and G have a tendency to have the "back" foot drag around to the front early, just after the "backscratch" phase. Neither have the chest facing dominantly towards the "back" fence on trophy pose phase ( Goran slightly more ). Sampras and Federer both have pronounced chest turned towards back fence within a "platform" stance. Their back legs don't come around until the very end, providing a more pronounced "corkscrew". I am somewhat wary of "facing the net" / chests not turned servers, as, while it may produce more speed, it may produce hitting into the tape errors more often than not ( the face of the racquet flatter to the net at contact ). Kyrgios' height may give an advantage. The thing about Sampras is that he could achieve speed AND spin with high consistency. It can be informative to watch for this serving style during matches and try to quantify error vs. success outcomes.

 

[heninfan99]

Similar, I would give the edge to Goran.

 

[roger presley]

I think Goran. His serve and volley brought him Wimbledon title,one for the movie,and he would have won a few more if it wasn't for serve and volley of probably the best player in that department,Pete Sampras.

 

[SinjinCooper]

In some ways it's kind of an unfair comparison. Nick, even if he miraculously ups his average pace into the 150 range, still isn't ever going to have a weapon as devastating to the average opponent as Goran's lefty ad court hook.

 

[90's Clay]

Goran

 

[TMF]

The sheer number of aces should tell you that Goran's serve is on the same level as Karlovic. Kyrgios is not even in the conversation.

Karlovic > Goran

Karlovic:
total matches:605
total aces:11,813
avg. aces/match: 19.5

Goran:
total matches: 731
total aces: 10,131
avg. aces/match: 13.8

 

[Gazelle]

Goran had a big serve, but wasn't he infamously unclutch with it?

 

[psYcon]

I think Goran. His serve and volley brought him Wimbledon title,one for the movie,and he would have won a few more if it wasn't for serve and volley of probably the best player in that department,Pete Sampras.

this . before his 2001 win Goran reached the Wimby finals three times but couldn't frustratingly close out the championship win before finally doing it against an opponent not named Pistol Pete. He could very well have had 4 Wimbys to his name on the back of his amazing serve!

 

[90's Clay]

Goran had a big serve, but wasn't he infamously unclutch with it?

Well he won Wimbledon with it and beat a bunch of great players doing so.

 

[psYcon]

Karlovic > Goran

Karlovic:
total matches:605
total aces:11,813
avg. aces/match: 19.5

Goran:
total matches: 731
total aces: 10,131
avg. aces/match: 13.8

somewhere in these stats height must also be factored in, i.e. all things being equal a 6'11 giant is expected to out-ace a guy who's some 6 foot and change. maybe an inch for inch comparison like they do in MMA (pound for pound) ?

 

[AngryBirds]

Karlovic > Goran

Karlovic:
total matches:605
total aces:11,813
avg. aces/match: 19.5

Goran:
total matches: 731
total aces: 10,131
avg. aces/match: 13.8

Karlovic racked up aces against lesser players. Goran had to face better players going deep into tournaments, so the stats can be somewhat misleading here.

 

[Fedfan34]

Well he won Wimbledon with it and beat a bunch of pigeons doing so.

Fixed.

 

[lud]

Both in top 10 of all time.

Ivanisevic > Kyrgios. But,that might change at the end of Nick's career.

 

[Nadalgaenger]

Why no poll?

 

[Fedinkum]

Goran was not a dlckhead, his serve was better.

 

[Limpinhitter]

After watching tonight's Miami SF it seems obvious Kyrgios has a great first and second serve, with accurate placement, unpredictability and clutch.

However there is one other individual in history with similar height (6'4) who did the same as Kyrgios, perhaps with even better placement, # aces / serve, and unpredictability, albeit not as clutch perhaps. And that person is Goran Ivanisevic.

Being a lefty Goran did get added advantage but overall from serve perspective they are fairly similar in result. Thoughts as to whom you consider better and reason why?

Ivanisevic had a bigger serve, especially first serve, and was a lefty. In my view, he had the significantly better serve.

 

[Limpinhitter]

In some ways it's kind of an unfair comparison. Nick, even if he miraculously ups his average pace into the 150 range, still isn't ever going to have a weapon as devastating to the average opponent as Goran's lefty ad court hook.

Goran's biggest serves were probably in the 150 mph range if measured immediately after contact.

 

[Limpinhitter]

Ivanisevic vs. Roddick, Wimbledon 2001. Roddick is only about 19 but Ivanisevic's serve is noticeably bigger.