October 1, 2008 
Manzanillo Tennis Week (Feb 16-23)
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2008 US Open – It All Boils Down to the Second Serve Jim McLennan Great US Open. Riveting matches. Serena ascendant. Murray has crashed the party and is now a force at the top of the game. And, of course, all is well with the world as Roger has refound his sublime game. Though I don’t even know him, somehow my moods are as influenced as much by his losses as his wins. And as to Rafa, what an incredible sportsman! He was gracious in his semifinal loss to Murray and was actually signing autographs on his way out of the stadium. A class act! Roger has said the state of the men’s game is excellent with both the level of play and the character of those at the top (Sorry Novak your name doesn’t figure within this second category), and how true. Now to the nuts and bolts – the second serve. The men’s final was essentially even as the second set moved to a close. With Murray serving at 5-6 to take the set to a tiebreaker, Federer swept four points in a row largely due to indifferent serving by Andy (two average first serves, and two short and predictable second serves). At this stage of a Grand Slam final, Murray needed aces or unreturnable serves. Just the opposite occurred. Andy got first serves in play in the first and fourth points, and in both cases Fed controlled the points. But at love 15 Fed approached against a slow second serve to finish the point at the net with a pinpoint backhand volley. Then at love 30, Fed again attacked a second serve, this time with an under spin backhand approach skidding deep and low into Murray’s backhand corner. Murray threw up a feeble lob, and in short order the game, the set and the match were over. If in fact one is only as good as one’s second serve, then the entire match was determined by these two huge points at the end of the second set, both settled in Federer’s favor by suspect second serves from Murray. To my mind, Murray has some serious tinkering to do with his serve. The commentators acknowledge his length of limb and increased velocity on the delivery, but still something is lacking in the disguise and the trust (second serve) department. So the following series of stats present a compelling picture of the importance of the second serve, and the fact that in nearly every instance the player who wins more of the points on second serve wins the match. Note, only the men’s final stats do not follow form. And in every other case below the differences are significant. To my mind the disparity in the Federer and Murray second serve percentage of points won has to do with the breaks Federer gave back to Murray in the middle of the second set and towards the end of the third set. If the stats were available only for the so called “big games” (and I don’t have access to that breakdown) I believe the swing would be much more in Fed’s favor.
Now certainly, any of us would probably settle for the second serve of any of these four semifinalists. But that said, whether the stats indicate poor serving, or simply exemplary receiving, it appears that in each case the loser has some work to do on the second serve. And dear reader, the same holds true for you and me.
Note the similarities in Federer and Murray, as they spin the ball heavily to the deuce court. Both guys turn away from the net with their service tosses, arms parallel to the baseline, and both release the toss at eye level. As the toss nears the peak, both have their knees equally bent, but ever so slightly Fed hoods the racquet with the face down; Andy has the racquet head up. This is just a minor difference but anyone familiar with Vic Braden’s material will understand the meaning. As the players approach the final acceleration up and into the hit, both have their tossing arm well extended, eyes up, and importantly for your own serve, both players are leading at this moment with the edge of the racquet – the key to a spin serve. Both swing up and across the ball and are still off the ground at this moment of the follow through, but note that Murray has kept more racquet speed at this point, swinging “through” the ball, whereas Fed appears to decelerate sooner, indicating more of a whipping motion at the top of the swing. Fed does have more action and a higher consistent second serve speed, and perhaps this may be due in some small part to these two subtle differences. That is, between the hooded racquet and the speed of the follow through, though just hunches by the writer. But getting back to the differences between Murray and Federer (and I am not picking on Andy for I am a Scot as well) whenever possible, the first and second serves must be nearly identical in pace, rhythm, delivery, and speed. However, Murray’s biggest serve was 133mph; his average first serve was 108mph and average 2nd serve speed 82mph – an overall range of 51mph. Whereas Fed’s biggest serve was 126mph, average 1st serve speed 114mph and average 2nd serve speed 92 mph – an overall range of 34mph. Clearly Fed’s serves are more similar in pace and rhythm and he took advantage of the obvious disparity in Murray’s delivery. There will be no quick fix for your second serve. But with practice, and with the emphasis placed on this stroke, you may eventually become known not so much for your big first serve, but rather for your reliable second serve. And if that leads to more winning, then who needs a big serve in the first place. (Click link to purchase Jim's McLennan's Secrets of World Class Footwork Video.) As always, we would love to hear from you! Questions, comments, personal experiences all create helpful dialogue for everyone! Please click here to send us your email.
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