The debate over who stands as the greatest among the tennis Big Three will continue for years, mainly because this generation of tennis fans predominantly witnessed Djokovic’s era. Since 2011, Novak Djokovic has secured 23 Grand Slam titles, 35 Masters titles, and held the No. 1 ranking for 399 weeks. In contrast, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, combined, have won 17 Grand Slam titles, 29 Masters titles, and spent 139 weeks at No. 1.
Roger Federer was famous for his brilliant serves, many of which his opponents were unable to return. The secrets to his unparalleled serves were secret, until a Tennis coach decided to shed some light on it.
Patrick Mouratoglou breaks down secrets of Roger Federer’s brilliance
Serena Williams’ ex-coach Patrick Mouratoglou took to Facebook to provide fans with a detailed breakdown of Roger Federer’s serve. The Frenchman said he wanted to draw attention to the technical factors that made it so lethal, describing the Swiss’ serve as one of the best in the game.
According to Patrick Mouratoglou, how the Swiss legend Roger Federer twists his back to the right, almost to the point where he presents his back to his opponent, is only possible because of the 20-time Grand Slam champion’s innate left-eye dominance.
“One thing that is very particular about Federer’s serve is that he’s turned very far to the right when he starts his motion. You can almost see his back facing the net. This allows for great range in motion and body rotation,” the coach pointed out.
“He can position himself that way only because he is left-eye dominant, which allows him to still see both the ball and the court. Right-eye dominant players, Alexander Zverev for example, don’t use this position because they will lose sight of the ball and the court,” Mouratoglou explained.
The second attribute that impressed Patrick Mouratoglou was Federer’s serving stance which allowed him to load up on his legs before tossing the ball. “As you can see, Federer has a very strong and balanced platform stance. This allows him to load up on his legs as he tosses the ball. If you pay attention to his toss, you’ll notice that he guides the ball up rather than throwing it, which helps him keep a very consistent toss,” Mouratoglou said.
“His tossing arm straightens out completely and points to the ball. It stays up until he reaches the trophy position. He starts dropping his racquet head behind his back, and then pulls down to help with his shoulder action,” he added.
Djokovic outshines Federer to earn GOAT status in Mouratoglou’s eyes
Patrick Mouratoglou has revealed that Novak Djokovic is in better shape today than he was ten years ago, when he was asked about tennis GOAT status. At the same time, the French coach said this did not happen for Roger Federer.
Interviewed by Tennis Majors, Mouratoglou explained: “Often hear that what Roger did between 2017 and 2019 is as good as what Novak is doing now, and that Roger was a better player in 2017, 2018, than before. But at 36, 37, Roger was not able to win three out of four Grand Slams and be consistent all year long and be really, one step above all the players.”
“This didn’t happen. The difference is Novak, he’s physically as good today as he was when he was 26. That’s a huge difference. When you are at that level physically, you can be consistent all year long and beat all the best players in the world consistently. That’s a big difference.”
Novak Djokovic’s GOAT status got elevated after he lifted his 40th Masters 1000 of his career at Paris-Bercy last month, also won a record seventh Nitto ATP Finals title, cementing his eighth year-end world no.1 position.
Was Roger Federer the best server of all time? Tell us what you think in the comments.
