tennisdad65
Hall of Fame
I was watching the LA open last week (saturday night) and paid a lot of attention to their second serves. I was fairly close up in the 2nd row midway between net and baseline.
I saw querrey vs. haas and courier vs chang
My observations:
1) They all hit twist 2nd serves but seemingly for all of them, the toss was at 12, i.e. not too far behind their heads.. (Though I admit, I was not in the best position to determine the exact toss location. Directly behind them would have been perfect).
2) Haas had the most aggressive tosses for his second serves, a good 2 feet into the court. His second serve speed was often 90+ mph.. not too much kick at all. He was the only guy who occasionally hit a topspin second and these were 100+ mph.. He double faulted a few more times than querrey did.
3) Querry had a relatively weak second serve.. 77-90 mph.. He spun it in safely a lot and it 'spun up' due to his height and spin. It did NOT 'kick up' much.. His toss was 6 inches into the court at best. Haas did not take advantage of querreys second serves, but I could see Novak/Fed etc.. eating his second serve for lunch..
4) Courier had the most impressive second serve. But, he was fooling around a lot, and double faulted a couple of times.. His leg drive up was incredible and he hit some of his second serves a good 2 feet into the court. The guy is still a STUD.. His second serve 'Kicked up' or Shot up after the bounce unlike querrey's which just Spun up.. Chang had to move 3-6 feet inside the baseline to return his second serves and they were still a foot above his head.. he hit one club level spinny second serve at 55 mph!! but his second serve speeds were 77-95 mph..
5) Chang spun his second serves in. You could probably calibrate your speed gun with his second serves at 77-78 mph.. They did not bounce up too high and he moved them well. i.e. they were fairly difficult to attack.
I saw querrey vs. haas and courier vs chang
My observations:
1) They all hit twist 2nd serves but seemingly for all of them, the toss was at 12, i.e. not too far behind their heads.. (Though I admit, I was not in the best position to determine the exact toss location. Directly behind them would have been perfect).
2) Haas had the most aggressive tosses for his second serves, a good 2 feet into the court. His second serve speed was often 90+ mph.. not too much kick at all. He was the only guy who occasionally hit a topspin second and these were 100+ mph.. He double faulted a few more times than querrey did.
3) Querry had a relatively weak second serve.. 77-90 mph.. He spun it in safely a lot and it 'spun up' due to his height and spin. It did NOT 'kick up' much.. His toss was 6 inches into the court at best. Haas did not take advantage of querreys second serves, but I could see Novak/Fed etc.. eating his second serve for lunch..
4) Courier had the most impressive second serve. But, he was fooling around a lot, and double faulted a couple of times.. His leg drive up was incredible and he hit some of his second serves a good 2 feet into the court. The guy is still a STUD.. His second serve 'Kicked up' or Shot up after the bounce unlike querrey's which just Spun up.. Chang had to move 3-6 feet inside the baseline to return his second serves and they were still a foot above his head.. he hit one club level spinny second serve at 55 mph!! but his second serve speeds were 77-95 mph..
5) Chang spun his second serves in. You could probably calibrate your speed gun with his second serves at 77-78 mph.. They did not bounce up too high and he moved them well. i.e. they were fairly difficult to attack.
