What Happened To The Return of Serve in Men’s Tennis?
Recently I took a look at the current Top 10 players in the ATP rankings. I was asked to research Alex De Minaur and provide a technical summary of his game . Whilst researching De Minaur, I looked at two other players in the Top 10 and got a bit of an eye opener. The return of serve stats seemed not to be at the level I would expect. For a number of years I have heard the return of serve is so much better today than previous decades. Players have to go to net with extreme caution. The racquets and strings are at its optimum; players should stay on the baseline and run side to side instead… Interestingly, earlier this year I took a look at Pete Sampras’ return stats , as I was referencing him re my article about Carlos Alcaraz and his serve issues . As an attacking player, I looked at Sampras' overall return games won for his career. Statistics were compiled from 1991 onwards although he turned pro in 1988. I decided to take this a l...