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by Ram Sundaram

What next for Roger?

September 9, 2012 in Tennis

It’s been a mixed year for Roger Federer. He started the year positively, going on a winning streak that began after his memorable loss to Novak Djokovic at the semi-finals of the US Open last year, and was snapped by Rafael Nadal at the semi-finals of thisyear’s Australian Open. He then went onto the hard court events at Indian Wells and Miami with enthusiasm, only to suffer an early exit at Miami, courtesy of Andy Roddick. He had a mixed clay court season, with some disappointing and early losses, interspersed with a win at Madrid, when none of the other top players seemed to be able to find their footing, literally and symbolically. He suffered yet another semi-final loss to Novak Djokovic at the French Open, before leaving for grass.

Here began Federer’s best part of the year. He had built up enough points from the many tournament he had played during the year to regain his number one ranking as he usurped local favourite Andy Murray in the final of Wimbledon to equal Pete Sampras’ record of 7 Wimbledon wins, and in the process recorded his first major title in over two years. Federer was at the top of the world then. He came down a few notches in his Olympic final beating to Andy Murray, and ended up with a silver medal. He then skipped the Rogers Cup, but played at the Cincinnati Masters at beat Djokovic convincingly in the final to win yet another title, and build up enough momentum for the US Open. But the train, it seemed, would stop here.

His US Open performance this year has been unremarkable, with typically one-sided early round wins, and then a default win against Mardy Fish, which is a match that Federer would have loved to play in hindsight, purely for the practice and the challenge. For as it turned out, an under-cooked and untested Federer took on Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals, a man who had been through some dramatic moments in his last few matches, and looked to be at the top of the game. In the process of his loss to Berdych, Federer lost a record of eight consecutive semi-final appearances at the US Open, as well as a streak of never having lost a night match at the event. A dejected Federer announced he would now have to reassess his goals for the rest of the year. Only time will tell what that means.

It seems unlikely that he will play a great deal of tennis the rest of this year. He might skip one of the few tournaments in Asia, but prepare himself for the year end finals in London. But apart from that, there will probably be very little on his plate till 2013. It’s been a better year for Federer than 2011, but every year that he plays the sport now, he will lose as many records as he breaks. It is to be expected, for he is past his prime, and is playing now on the fumes of a fire that carried him to 17 Grand Slam wins. He said earlier this summer that he might play till he was 35. Known to defy expectation and offer surprises, Federer might move that date up or push it back, depending on how he feels. He will not want to give up his number one ranking, but it’s hard to see him playing as much tennis next year as he did this season. He’s at a crossroads, where he will have to decide whether he must pace himself in order to play another five years, and possibly win a couple of Grand Slams in the process, especially a record breaking 8th win at Wimbleddon. Or should he continue to play every chance he gets, thereby keeping his number one ranking, but risking fatigue or injury leading up to a major. There are tough calls in his future, but after so many years and so much success, it’s a good predicament for a champion to be in.

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by Ram Sundaram

A fitting end

September 8, 2012 in Tennis

This year’s US Open will be remembered more for the occassions and the events than for the tennis. Rafael Nadal missed it, and cast a cloud over the tournament with doubts over whether or not his career would survive his injury. Then Kim Clijsters suffered an early loss, and ended her last Grand Slam appearance a lot earlier than many would have liked, and bid farewell to a celebrated career. Mere days later, Andy Roddick announced his retirement from the game, following the US Open. Tributes poured in from everywhere, and the ESPN coverage of the tournament was littered with frequent montages that relived the memories of the most accomplished American tennis player of the last decade. The footage of Roddick’s press conference where he announced his retirement, was replayed about as many times as Brad Gilbert uses the phrase, “that one’s a line-clipper” during his commentary. And it became clear that regardless of how far he went in this tournament, this US Open would still be Andy Roddick’s.

As it turned out, he went pretty far, considering his form and fitness. He had a near walkover against Australian Bernard Tomic, who had arrived at New Yor but left his game behind in Australia. Fabio Fognini entertained, and threatened to exceed his role in the script Roddick had written by winning the third set, but then duly folded in the fourth and allowed Roddick the right to lose to a more accomplished player. Andy had a choice between a fourth round loss to Juan Martin Del Potro, a quarter-final loss to Novak Djokovic, a semi-final loss to David Ferrer, or potentially a finals’ loss or win) against either Andy Murray or Tomas Berdych. But for a man who by his own admission has little strength left in his body or his will to endure more tennis, the first of the four options seemed likeliest. And despite claiming the first set against Del Potro, a set that he should have won the night before, which would have perhaps given him the opportunity to go up two sets the following day, Roddick still went down in four sets.

There were moments of brilliance, moments of courage and determination, but mostly there were moments of agony in watching Roddick play that final match. He was a mere shadow of the player he once was. His serve has lost a lot of the juice it had once boasted, and though he struck his groundstrokes with consistency, there was no conviction or confidence behind them. Roddick looked like the little boy with a sword that tries to go into a cave to kill a sleeping dragon. And at the start of the match, Del Potro looked very much like a sleeping dragon. But while Roddick poked and prodded him with the sword, he never looked like he would defeat him and win glory. It wasn’t a question of if the dragon would wake up, but when. And once Del Potro stirred, Roddick retreated, and accepted defeat. And that defeat came nobly, if somewhat tearfully. Del Potro won with class, and allowed Andy his last moments in the spotlight. It was after all a huge moment for Del Potro himself, to enter the quarter-finals of the event he won in 2009 before an injury that took him out of the game for nearly two years. But he stepped back and gave Roddick and his fans a chance to say farewell to one another. And with many tears, Roddick addressed his fans on court for perhaps the last time. And he summed it up best when he said, “For the first time in my career, I don’t know what to say.”

Ultimately, it was fitting that a career more famous for its tragic losses than for its steller wins, should end with a disappointing loss. And Roddick’s fans cheered for him, just as they have through all of his disappointments through the years. It was fitting that Roddick was the last American man to be eliminated from the tournament; it was fitting that he lost at the site of his only Grand Slam win, and it was fitting that he should leave the sport the same way he entered it, with his head held high.

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by Ram Sundaram

Serving Tall

September 7, 2012 in Tennis

It’s no secret that when it comes to tennis, particularly to serving efficiently and powerfully, size matters. Explosive strength and power are well and good, but when a server steps up to the baseline, the taller he is, the more angles he has to work with. And the most experienced tennis players and analysts will tell you that hitting aces or hitting “good” serves has as much to do with angles as with pace. Federer, someone who serves consisently about 25 mph slower than the likes of John Isner or Milos Raonic, may not hit as many aces as they do per match, but holds far more frequently than the two of them combined. Isner gets broken an averag of 4-5 games per 3-set match; Raonic about 3-4 games per 3-set match; Federer’s number falls to about 1-2. The numbers speak for themselves. But they don’t tell the whole story; the reason Federer holds as much as he does is due also largely to the fact that he is perhaps the best tennis player in the history of the sport, and has a far superior all court game to back up th serve than either Isner or Raonic. But Raonic has four to five inches on Federer in height, and Isner has 7-8 inches on him. That translates to a better serve. Period.

The issue can be better understood using basic arithmetic. The server begins a service game at about 58 feet from the net. The net is about 3 feet high in the middle and three feet five inches near the posts. The service box is 21 feet by 18 feet. So the server has to aim the ball into a surface area that is about 378 square feet, and so naturally, the taller he is, the higher he is making contact with the ball, and the easier his angle will be. During the US Open this year, Hawk-Eye was used to measure the point of contact for some of the players on tour, particularly the taller ones. Tomas Berdych, who stands at 6’5″ has a maximum contact point at 9’9″ off the ground, while Juan Martin Del Potro cleared 10 feet on two occassions. Sam Querrey, who stands at 6’6″ hit a serve at 9’10″ off the court, and Milos Raonic, the 6’5″ Canadian, hit one at 9’8″ off the ground. In the midst of these already tall guys, John Isner was measured, and his highest contact point on a serve was an astounding 11 feet above the court. That is a whole foot and a few inches higher than the players closest to his height, so it gives an indication as to what angles Isner has at his disposal. 

It’s a fact that hitting an acute angle on the wide serve of the ad-court for a right-handed player that is under six-feet tall, is rather difficult. Within the service box, particularly on the side lines, the closer a mark is to the net, the harder it becomes to hit, for any player. But particularly for the players that are shorter than six feet, hitting such angles consistently becomes virtually impossible. But if you’re John Isner, and you’re striking the ball at eleven feet off the ground, the task gets considerably easier. Furthermore, from a contact point of eleven feet, Isner will also generate considerable kick off his second serve, which will make returning it a rather um, “tall” task for a shorter returner. The advantages of being tall in tennis are numerous, and though there are some hindrances, mobility and flexibility to name a couple, there are other attributes that can compensate for such weaknesses, such as longer strides that cover a larger area of the court, and a wider wingspan to defend groundstrokes.

Advantages aside, the fact remains that the tallest player ever to win a Grand Slam is Del Potro in 2009, right here at the US Open, but he is an anomaly in a sport that has generally been dominated by a sleuth of successful champions who have mostly been within 6’0″ and 6’2″. But ask an Isner or a Raonic if they would trade a few inches off their height for more agility, greater dexterity with their hands, or a more flexible body, and you’ll be stared down at with disdain. They may not win many Grand Slams at their height, but getting them to see things from our perspective will be a tall order.

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by Ram Sundaram

The Born Fighter

September 7, 2012 in Tennis

Maria Sharapova has made it to yet another semi-final of a Grand Slam, this time at the US Open. A win here would cap off a remarkable eighteen months, which has witnessed her meteoric rise from near ashes as a tennis player and competitor. The fact that she holds an incredible record for the year of never having lost a match that has gone to three sets, speaks volumes of the determination she has shown. The few times she has been beaten this year, she has lost in straight sets. But for the most part, she has strutted around the courts with dominance, improving and enhancing a game that has always had potential, but has never had consistency. Since her first Grand Slam win in 2004, when at the tender age of 17, she took out Serena Williams at the final of Wimbledon, Sharapova has never quite lived up to the expectations of her. Never has she won more than one major in a year, and seldom has she managed to keep herself at number one for long enough. Her game is mercurial, exploding with fabulous winners and thunderous aces one moment, while simultaneously leaking errors and breaking down with woeful double faults the next. That has always been Sharapova’s style.

And style is something that she has plenty of; she has been called the most famous and successful female athlete in history, but not based on performance as a tennis player, but more for her good looks and her work as a model, endorsing brand names and gracing magazine covers. But where someone like Anna Kournikova garnered similar off court attention as Sharapova does, if not more, Kournikova wasn’t nearly as accomplished or dedicated a player as Sharapova is. Kournikova left the game early, and cashed in her tennis popularity to create a life for herself beyond the sport. Sharapova on the other hand has fought to stay in, has overcome nearly career-ending injuries, has broken through enormous obstacles, and overcome immense challenges to once again be at the top of women’s tennis. And it is this fighting spirit that will define Sharapova as a player, more than anything else.

Martina Navratilova says that Sharapova is the gutsiest player on tour, and that few others, in both the men’s and the women’s game, channel as much energy, focus and determination into every single point of a match as Sharapova does. This statement is not without merit. Seeing Sharapova play can be a stressful experience, especially if you’re like most women and can’t bear to hear Maria’s ear-splitting wails as she pounds the ball. But what is more unnerving than the high decibels her screeches reach, is her body-language and expression for the entire course of the match. Whether she is up 6-0, down 0-6, or is merely playing the first point of the match, Sharapova’s body will remain tense and coiled, ready to spring. And her face will be stern and grim, while her eyes are narrowed with focus. She plays every point like it’s match point, and will hit the ball as hard as she can, no matter what the game situation is. But her hitting has a method to it, and especially this year at the US Open, she has demonstrated immense control and power off both wings. While the serve, particularly the second, continues to be mercurial, she has more weapons than ever to back it up.

Sharapova potentially has many years left in the game, and despite her considerable financial success, and the career slam that she reached this year, she still won’t give up the sport anytime soon. At the US Open this year, she was compared to Roger Federer in her love for the sport. But while Federer loves the game itself, the art, the tradition, and the very physics of it, Sharapova doesn’t love hitting the ball or wielding her racquet as much as she loves competing and winning. What else can you expect from Maria? She isn’t called a Born Fighter for nothing…

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by Ram Sundaram

Tackling a weak serve

September 2, 2012 in Tennis

Gilles Simon took on Mardy Fish tonight, one of the few American men still left standing at the US Open, and the two engaged in a long, slow battle of attrition that ended with Fish winning in four sets. The rallies had plenty to offer for the prime-time viewers on television and the spectators that had packed themselves into Arthur Ashe for the late night finish to this third round match-up. But one of the reasons there were so many rallies on display, is because Simon is suffering from a shoulder injury that prevents him from serving at his normal pace. As a result, there were few quick points in Simon’s service games, and few in Fish’s serving games, for Simon was returning better than he was serving.

One of the telling aspects of the match though was the inability of Fish to dictate points on Simon’s service games, even though the latter was serving his first serve at less than 100 mph and was dropping his second serves in at times in the mere 65-70 mph range. In an era of big servers and versatile returners, it was odd to see a contest between an inadequate server and an ineffective returner. A stat near match point revealed that out of 128 serves received, Fish had only hit 4 outright winners. That is a poor average for a top-ranked, experienced player like Fish, known for his normally aggressive style of play, especially when facing such timid serves. But the reality is that it is as difficult facing a weak serve as it is a strong one. Simon’s second serves were slower than his average groundstrokes, and his first serve was at times slower than some of his forehand winners. But Fish was not only unable to hit outright winners off them, but he was also ineffective at hitting returns that gave him an advantage in the point.

The trick to tackling a weak serve is similar to the basics of handling a big serve, or any kind of serve for that matter, with the emphasis on depth and accuracy. The difference is that when facing a big server, the returner must utilize the pace of the serve and harness it well enough to get a deep return. Off a weak serve, the challenge is to generate enough pace to hit a deep, well-placed return. And since Fish mostly plays bigger servers, and is used to blunting the pace of monster serves, he struggled to take advantage of a weakened Simon serve. Ultimately he was still able to eke out a win, thanks largely to his prowess at the net, and his ability to drag Simon forward, where he is less comfortable. Fish is unlikely to face weak serves against Federer, his next opponent, and he won’t be looking too far ahead of that match-up, but there are certainly no other “soft” servers left in the draw anyway. But it is a struggle that he will discuss with his coach tonight, and will discuss ways through which he could improve his return game. For weakness is after all a quantitative entitiy in sport, measured merely through numbers; it means nothing unless it can be returned with strength.

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by Ram Sundaram

Playing the crowd

August 31, 2012 in Tennis

A few hours ago, Bernard Tomic took on the sentimental favourite of the US Open in Andy Roddick, in front of a packed and vociferous crowd at Arthur Ashe stadium. The support that Roddick received from his home crowd tonight was almost unprecedented, and even the veteran American admitted that the energy from his supporters carried him through the match. It’s not hard to imagine that when there are over 40,000 people screaming your name and cheering for you quite vocally, that you can find that higher gear in crucial moments. So it’s no surprise that Roddick reaped the benefits of playing in front of the New York crowd. But what about 19-year old Tomic? The tall, gangly boy from Australia wilted under the pressure of both the occassion and the opponent, and played what would perhaps be remembered as one of his worst performances ever.

Technically, Tomic made a lot of mistakes. He didn’t penetrate the court with his groundstrokes, didn’t attack the short balls, didn’t serve well (on one point he spun in his first serve at a measly 79 mph), and overused his slices. But where his technical misgivings and poor shot selections can be forgiven, and more importantly rectified, it was his complete and utter lack of effort that will not have won many fans. Patrick Mcenroe mentioned on air that even Roddick would have been digusted with the number 43 seed’s perfomance tonight. Tomic looked the picture of someone who did not want to be out there playing tonight, and considering he had been given an opportunity to showcase his talent on the biggest stage of the sport, in front of a capacity crowd, during a prime-time night match in the middle of the largest stadium in the world, his lackadaisical effort is unforgiveable.

So what happened to stun Tomic into such a stupor? The significance of playing a champion of the game, and a home crowd favourite in what could have been the final match of his career, was something that probably made him nervous. But where he let that circumstance deter him from a good performance, perhaps the opposite should have happened. Playing the crowd often involves using the energy of a large audience, whether it is directed to you or to your opponent, to your advantage. 40,000 people wanted Roddick to win. Roddick wanted to win. The stakes were higher for him than ever before; he can’t work his way back from a loss; he can’t shrug it off and hit the practice courts with a promise to do better next time. A loss for Roddick means the end of his career. To play under such expectations and high pressure is difficult, even for a champion. And it can’t be easy with 40,000 people screaming your name, asking you to win. Tomic allowed the crowd’s support of Roddick to deflate him. But with a little more maturity and simple common sense, he would have realized that if even at one point had he put any kind of pressure back onto Roddick, he would have single-handedly brought the nerves of 40,000 people and his opponent, to the edge. And suddenly, it might have been a whole new ball game.

Roddick now faces Fabio Fagnini in his third round, before a potential round of 16 clash with Juan Martin Del Potro, and if he somehow makes it through that, he would probably have to face Novak Djokovic, David Ferrer and Roger Federer, in that order. A final clash against Roger Federer, the man who single-handedly derailed all of Roddick’s Grand Slam chances, would be a fitting way to end his career. But to get there, Roddick first has a lot of hard work to do. And it won’t be as easy as it was tonight. Tomic didn’t know better, but the other guys Roddick will be up against will know how to play the crowd. Or at the very least, they’ll know enough not to let the crowd play them.

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by Ram Sundaram

Has Del Potro improved since US Open 2009?

August 26, 2012 in Tennis

It was three years ago that a relative unknown in the tennis world stormed into the finals of the US Open, and that too in Grand fashion, by deftly disposing of Rafael Nadal in straight sets. A tall, stone-faced Argentinian, only 20 years old, was facing up to Roger Federer, the greatest tennis player of all time. Federer had easily brushed aside another newcomer of the time in Andy Murray at the finals of the Open in 2008, and there was no reason for anyone to expect this final to turn out differently, especially when Federer found himself a match point at the end of the fourth set. But Juan Martin Del Potro had other plans, and after some brutal hitting, employing perhaps the most ferocious forehands ever seen in the sport, he found himself a Grand Slam champion.

Three years later, Del Potro is far from winning another major. In the tennis hierarchy, his odds of winning a Grand Slam come after the likes of Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray, and then even perhaps after Tsonga or Ferrer. And yet, only the first three in that list of six have won at least a major, and though Murray is expected to win a Grand Slam title before Del Potro wins another, it is the latter who has tasted that success. Yet in the wake of that 2009 US Open, Del Potro found himself battling a wrist injury. He struggled through much of 2010 before succumbing to the injury and undergoing surgery. Recovery proved to be a rather long road and Del Potro faded away until the end of 2011 and the beginning of 2012, when he reappeared in the latter stages of big tournaments. This year has proven a fruitful one, most recently with a bronze medal at the Olympics and that too with a win over Novak Djokovic, and a semi-final berth at the Cincinnati Masters.

But when asked repeatedly at press conferences how he feels about his game, Del Potro is predictably self-critical, and negative. He always says that he trying still to reclaim the position and form he had prior to his injury, which begs the question, “is he really not back to his 2009 self?” Perhaps he isn’t, or perhaps he feels he will never be. No matter how much he improves and how much he achieves, it will be impossible to know where his career would have been, and how many more tournaments he would have won, had he not suffered that injury. Federer himself famously said that he expected Del Potro to be in the top four in the world, maybe even at number one some day. A year lost is a big deal to an athlete, whose career is measured and restricted by age. Maybe Del Potro can never really emulate the success he enjoyed three years ago, and maybe he will never regain the form he indulged in back then. Or maybe he truly has surpassed the skills he held then, but has lost a lot of his mental fortitude and self-belief. No matter how well you’re playing, if you can’t recognize your ability and take confidence from it, all that skill and talent will be impotent. It will be interesting to see how Del Potro fares in these next few months, starting with New York next week. Hopefully, for his sake and for the sake of tennis lovers, he will start to believe that he has regained his finest form. For if not, there are plenty of others waiting to take his spot in the tennis hierarchy.

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by Ram Sundaram

First Strike

August 20, 2012 in Tennis

Roger Federer’s season of dominance continued with his straight-set triumph over Novak Djokovic at the Cincinnati Masters tournament final on Sunday afternoon. In a month that has seen him win a Grand Slam after more than two years, which also happened to be his seventh Wimbledon title, a feat that puts him on par with Pete Sampras’ tally of seven wins, Federer has also won a silver medal at the London Olympics, and now won yet another hard court title for the year. What was perhaps most telling in his victories over the past week at Cincinnati was the ease with which Federer played “first-strike” tennis. It brought back memories of Federer at his prime, an era during which he perfected the art of striking first in as many points as he could.

First Strike tennis is an aggressive, high-risk style of play, whih requires the player to take the ball early, play from within the baseline, and always be looking to push forward and reach the net. This is a style of play that would have been routine more than ten years ago, but in today’s age of baseline excellence and jaw-dropping fitness, the task of hitting deep, powerful approach shots and then closing out net points seems somewhat daunting. Which is why Federer’s deftness at playing first strike tennis has been so scintillating to watch. Against Djokovic in the Cincinnati final, Federer won the first set 6-0 in 20 mins, with 10 winners, 3 errors, and 5 for 5 on net points. While numbers alone don’t tell a story, Federer’s net play on the day, as it has been all week, was exceptional. Some of his drop-volleys off Djokovic’s fierce groundstrokes were enough to leave the 11,000 and more spectators gathered shaking their heads in disbelief and applauding wildly. It was a grand show that the world number one and two put on for tennis fans around the world, and Federer was the ring-master.

If Federer’s game were to be summarized in one word, that word might be class or elegance, perhaps talent. In terms of skill, that word would perhaps be touch, and there was plenty of that on display as he dug out half volleys and played mesmerizing drop-shots at will. But what will stand out most in a true, ardent follower of the sport’s mind, will be how early Federer took the ball, how hard he hit his groundstrokes, and how much inside the baseline he was positioned for most of the points. The Cincinnati Masters title is his, as is the number one ranking, a silver medal, a Wimbledon title and a truckload of confidence. With all of these in tow, he will arrive in New York next week to attempt to push one step further in what has been a pretty good year for the veteran. And if some of his fellow title contenders are keen to give him a challenge, they would do well to pay attention to what he’s been doing of late, and try to strike first.

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by Ram Sundaram

The tennis player that shouldn’t have been

August 14, 2012 in Tennis

When you think of a pure-bred tennis player, you can’t think beyond Roger Federer. The man steps onto a court looking like he truly belongs there, and you get the feeling when watching him that he understands every aspect of the game. But what is perhaps even more admirable (and intimidating) is that when Federer pulls his racquet back to strike a ball, it appears as though every inch of the court is at his disposal. And it is. He isn’t called the Maestro or the Wizard for nothing, and he uses his racquet like a wand, magically placing the ball into corners mere mortals would never even imagine.

David Ferrer, is one such mortal.

Tennis never looks natural when the Spanish play it. It looks laboured, gutsy, difficult, and well-earned when they win a point, let alone a match. Ferrer is of that mould of Spanish players, where a lack of natural tennis talent is made up for with hard work, both on and off the court. When you think of Spanish players, you think of determination and endurance. They may not place the ball on a dime the way Federer does, but they will pepper the court all around that dime, and force their opponents into long, grinding rallies. It is an art in itself, but because it is a Spaniard on the court, it will seem like work.

Ferrer is a man of little natural talent, but maximum realization of that little talent. He is the self-made millionaire that started out with a single dollar, while the likes of Richard Gasquet or Gilles Simon are the rich playboys born with millions, who have earned a mere dollar out of that investment. Ferrer doesn’t have the talent of most of the players on tour, but at age 30, he is only getting better and better. Thought of as strictly a clay-court player, as most Spaniards are, Ferrer’s best surface is now hard courts. He covers incredible ground for a man that is older than most of the other top 10 players, and serves incredibly well for his 5’8″ frame. He is remarkably consistent, has improved his groundstrokes to penetrate the court better, and makes every ounce of his limited talent and smaller body count. But he knows it will never be enough to breach into the top of the tennis hierarchy.

Known fondly as “the beast,” Ferrer’s chief attribute as a tennis player is tenacity, and his chief weakness is his lack of a weapon. He doesn’t have the flat, penetrating groundstrokes of a Novak Djokovic, the wizardry of a Roger Federer, the heavy spin of a Rafael Nadal, the explosive shots of an Andy Murray, or the sheer power of a Del Potro or Berdych. And yet he is number five in the world, and has been as high as number four, that too very recently. He is always there at the end of a Grand Slam or an ATP Masters event. He rarely, if ever, stumbles against lower ranked players, when even some of his more esteemed colleagues do. He is always there, and yet when the discussions arise of potential champions and possible winners, his name is never there. A Berdych, Tsonga or a Del Potro will be mentioned before Ferrer is. For they have power, they have weapons, and they have game. Ferrer has fight and guts, but he will never have glory. It is his destiny, as the man who was always there, and yet was never there, for he was never supposed to be there. He is the tennis player that shouldn’t have been.

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by Ram Sundaram

The World’s Best Server

August 1, 2012 in Tennis

When that question is asked, the average tennis fan’s mind goes to Andy Roddick, to Pete Sampras, John Isner, or the current favourite, Milos Raonic. All these players have one common trait: an exceptional serve, full of speed, spin and virtually indecipherable variety. Sampras was legendary for the amount of pace and spin he generated, and he had probably one of the best second serves in the history of the game. Andy Roddick revolutionalised the serve, and in all fairness probably introduced if not merely popularised the current, modern style of serving, which involves an abbreviated motion. John Isner and Ivo Karlovic shouldn’t get a lot of credit for serving as well as they do, for from their towering 6’9″ and 6’10″ frames, the net must seem a mere foot high, but they still produce more unreturnable serves than most. And Milos Raonic has risen into the top 20 in the world, almost solely due to his powerful serving ability.

But this still begs the question, “Who is the current best server in the game?” Out of the list above, only Sampras is retired, so all the others are viable candidates. Roddick’s serve is being returned efficiently by more players than perhaps since he was a junior, but it is still one of the best serves in the sport. Isner and Raonic remain nightmare opponents, even for the top seeds, due almost entirely to their big serves. But still, are they the best servers around? Recently, at the Wimbledon final, Darren Cahill mentioned on air that Roger Federer was perhaps the best server in the game today, and perhaps the best server of all time. The statement might have surprised many, because while the likes of Roddick and Raonic have struck serves in the mid 150s (mph), Federer’s average serves are in the low 120s, and at times even the mid 110s. They are accurate, well-placed and reliable, yes. But is that enough to earn him the title of the greatest all-time server?

Cahill’s reasoning stems from the longevity of Federer’s career, and the consistency of the serve throughout a career that has spanned over 15 years. Particularly in the last decade, during his meteoric rise to number one in the world, and en route to the 17 Grand Slams that he has thus far amassed, Federer’s serve has remained a loyal and trustworthy weapon in his armory. And perhaps more importantly, he has an “x” factor in his serve that even the likes of Roddick, Isner or Raonic do not: he has the game of Roger Federer backing it up. So in terms of numbers, in terms of holds, and in terms of the success that he has found when stepping up to serve, time and time again, game after game, match after match, tournament after tournament, yes, Federer’s serve is the best in history. He never went through a phase of prolonged double faults like Novak Djokovic; he never found his serve to be a liability on any surface, the way Rafael Nadal did, and even at his more advanced age of 31 now, his serve is still an efficient asset in his arsenal.

Every so often a great server is born, with a towering frame, a live arm, and an efficient technique. The world watches, the radar gun measures, and records are matched, if not broken. But there is more to serving than just pace, and there is more to being a great server than merely hitting aces. Roddick and Raonic can set all the serving records they want, but it’s Federer who’ll be taking the silverware home, once again.

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