Patrick Mouratoglou rates Nick Kyrgios’ serve as the best ever the game has seen.
Notwithstanding the changes to racquets and balls over the years, Mouratoglou believes modern players are much better returnees and that Kyrgios is miles ahead of the rest.
Not built in the shape of a traditional tennis player, Kyrgios has admitted he built his game around his serve because he hated running as a kid when he first started the sport.
He soon found that a brilliant serve would save him a lot of sweat and tears.
His serve is such that when he’s really dialed in, not even Novak Djokovic, arguably the best returner to ever play the game, has a hard time dealing with his great serves.
Kyrgios doesn’t lose much speed or depth on his second serve and, in isolation, Mouratoglou feels like an unmatched talent.
“Kyrgios is number one because the players are coming back much better today and he’s undoubtedly the best at the moment.”
Mouratouglou posted a video on social media in which he briefly listed his top five servers in tennis history, limited to players he had seen play.
He ranked Wimbledon marathoner John Isner second best and noted his efforts in the longest tennis match ever when he went unbroken for over 8 hours.
Andy Roddick took third place in the list with Mouratouglou, in awe of the brute strength and physicality of the man who, to this day, remains the last American to win a Grand Slam.
“Andy had the most violent way of hitting a serve in tennis history,” Mouratouglou said.
The serve can often be more about the athlete’s physical gifts, although without the right technique this will never lead to success on the court.
The man he ranks fourth, Ivo Karlovic, had both, as he’s a whopping 211cm tall (according to stats from ATPTour.com) and had a smooth serve.
Mouratouglou explained: “Thanks to his height, he has had a great career, mainly because of his serve.”
He ranked Pete Sampras fifth on the list. ‘Pistol Pete’ dominated Wimbledon and the hard court hits in the late 90’s after a deadly serve.
“Pete had the most unpredictable and unreadable serve on both the first and second,” Mouratouglou said.
Social media fans were ready to step in and correct the coach of multiple Grand Slam winners, but quite a few made the point that his omission of Goran Ivanisevic could be seen as an oversight.
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