Saturday, 09 July 2022 / Published in Nick Kyrgios, Novak Djokovic, Serving, Wimbledon

Nick Kyrgios’ Serve. Unreadable. Unhittable. Unstoppable.

G’day,

Is Nick Kyrgios a legitimate chance to upset the Novak Djokovic apple cart 🍎🛒 in the Wimbledon men’s singles final on Sunday?

Anything is possible, but the Super Serb is looking to win his fourth Wimbledon in a row and seventh overall. Djokovic has experience to burn. This will be his 32nd Grand Slam men’s finals appearance, which is the most of any player on the planet.

When you look at the big picture, Djokovic ticks all the boxes. But when you drill down and look at their simple head-to-head results, it’s Kyrgios who takes the honors.

2017 Acapulco Rd16 Kyrgios def. Djokovic 6-4, 7-6(3)
2017 Indian Wells QF Kyrgios def. Djokovic 7-6(9), 7-5

So what did Kyrgios do so well in those two matches that forged his pathway to victory?

Glad you asked…

Kyrgios’ serve is unreadable. You can’t read his toss. You can’t read his alignment. You can’t read his mind. If he serves wide or down the T, you have no idea which one is coming until the ball is off the strings. And oftentimes, that’s simply too late to do anything about.

Unreadable. Unpredictable. Unstoppable.

I was on Djokovic’s coaching team for these two matches in 2017, and I did an analysis of his serve after the matches to see if there was something I missed with his serve. When I ran a microscope over it, I discovered it was even better than I thought.

Let’s look at the first video. It’s Kyrgios hitting a first serve to Djokovic in the Deuce court of their Indian Wells match.

VIDEO 1: Deuce Court Simulcam in Slow Motion

This video effect was created in Dartfish software and is called Simulcam. It is two points overlayed on each other. One serve goes out wide and the other goes down the T. The motion is the same. The body movement is the same. Contact is the same. The direction is very different. Djokovic can do nothing but react.

Now let’s look at the two serves side by side.

Deuce Court Side By Side in Slow Motion

Same motion. Unreadable to two different locations. One is an ace, and the other is a return error.

Now let us look at the two serves at normal speed.

Deuce Court – Simulcam Normal Speed

This is what Djokovic gets to see. Kyrgios’ motion is so quick from start to finish. It’s on you in a heartbeat as he winds up quickly and does not toss the ball very high at all. He makes contact slightly below the highest point of the toss. You are rushed for time, trying to read something that is simply unreadable.

IMPROVE YOUR SERVE WITH THESE FIVE WEBINARS

Webinar 1: Winning Singles Strategy

Webinar 3: Serve Strategy Patterns

Webinar 16: Serve +1 Strategy

Webinar 21: Serve & Volley

Webinar 34: The 8 Serve Locations

AD COURT

Let’s start the Ad court analysis with a side-by-side comparison of a T serve and a wide serve.

Side By Side Normal Speed

Good luck reading that. You don’t have time, and you don’t even know where to look for clues.

Now it’s back to the Simulcam view.

Simulcam Ad Court Slow Motion

It feels like Kyrgios is rushing through his motion as quickly as possible to give you nothing to look at and also to get it on you as quickly as possible. The wide serve and the T serve are identical in their wind-up and delivery.

Now, let’s go so side-by-side in slow motion.

Side By Side Ad Court Slow Motion

It’s one of the cleanest and simplest serve motions in the history of our sport. And it’s a nightmare for Djokovic to read.

SUMMARY

Djokovic thrives on reading serves and getting into the server’s mind to figure out what’s coming next. Good luck against Kyrgios.

In their two matches played in 2017, Kyrgios won an impressive 62% (29/47) of 2nd serve points.
Djokovic could not break Kyrgios in either match.
Kyrgios only faced one break point in 23 service games.

And lastly, there is the unpredictability of speed on Kyrgios’ second serve.

In their Indian Wells match, Kyrgios had a substantial 46 mph (70 km/h) difference between his slowest second serve and his fastest. What’s startling is that these two extremes happened in succession late in the second set, helping the Aussie secure victory.

With Kyrgios serving at 5-6, 40-30 in the second set, he hit an 83 mph (134 km/h) second serve wide in the Ad court that Djokovic barely made contact with above his head.

Kyrgios’ next second serve came at 3-2 in the tie-break. It was an extremely fast 126 mph (203 km/h) ace right down the middle. Djokovic even moved in that direction, but the heavy slice put it well outside his reach.

Djokovic’s first-serve average speed at Indian Wells was 115 mph (185 km/h). Kyrgios hit 11 second serves that were faster than that! Djokovic’s fastest first serve was 128 mph. Kyrgios hit one second serve faster – a 129 mph delivery down the middle of the ad court at 1-2, 40/0 in the second set. Kyrgios’ second serve did yield four double faults, but it also contributed three of his 14 aces.

Kyrgios was lights out serving in their Acapulco match, hitting 25 aces while yielding just one double fault. It’s basically impossible to try and read Kyrgios’ serve. And he mixes so well that you have no idea what’s coming. Djokovic is the heavy favorite, but Kyrgios possesses one of the best serves of all time. Djokovic has never broken him and never beaten him.

Let’s hope for a battle of the ages! Good luck, gentlemen!

Craig

PICTURES: Deuce Court Side By Side

PICTURES: Ad Court Side-By-Side

The practice court is clearly broken. Here’s the proof.

Points are "front loaded". By far the majority of the action, and the winning, takes place in THE FIRST 4 SHOTS. The practice court is full of long rallies. Matches are dominated by short rallies. There is a massive disconnect occurring.

We spend too much time grinding, banging balls up and down the middle of the court – that have no real benefit to winning tennis matches.

There are 3 specific rally lengths in tennis. Here is their percentage breakdown of total points.

0-4 Shots = 70%
5-8 Shots = 20%
9+ Shots = 10%

The First 4 Shots is specifically the serve, return, Serve +1 groundstroke and Return +1 groundstroke. Those are normally the shots that get practiced the least, but matter the most to winning tennis matches.

The net is an extremely high percentage place to be!

If you love playing tennis for fun, spend as much time at the baseline as you like. But if you compete – if the score matters – then you must turn your attention to the net to maximize your potential.

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AVERAGE WIN %
Baseline = 46%
Net = 66%

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The baseline is a tough place to create separation. Here's how to do it.

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Forcing Errors = 41% Men / 37% Women
Winners = 32% Men / 29% Women
Unforced Errors = 27% Men / 34% Women

Num3ers is very much like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. It's about bringing together different data sets together to create the big picture.

Every recorded match from the 2015 Australian Open - Rd2 to the final.

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Winners rise to the #1 way a point ends (over forced & unforced errors)

- The last shot of the rally is overwhelmingly struck at the net.
- Center Window: the most important part of a doubles court to control.
- Stephen Huss: an in-depth interview on Wimbledon's Centre Court with the 2005 Wimbledon Doubles Champion.

Dou8les Num3ers leaves no stone unturned. Percentage breakdowns of how often the server or receiver hits the last shot highlight the dramatic influence of the serve. The last shot of the rally is significant, and is broken down into the following categories: volleys, overheads, passing shots, lobs and groundstrokes.

When you play a match, you actually play two matches.

When you walk out onto a tennis court, there are two matches that you are about to play. The first is during the point - a part of the match that you have spent a lot of time preparing for on the practice court. But there is a second match, that takes place in the 20 seconds between the points. This is where the mental and emotional aspects of our sport kick in.

Let's face it, there will be adversity in almost every tennis match that you play. The storm clouds are coming. How bug they are, and how long they last for, are up to you.

Between the points is very tennis specific. It provides a roadmap for the 20 seconds between the points, teaching how to handle the adversity that will surely come, and how to build on the successes that will also be present. Your mind is your biggest asset in a match, and Between the Points takes your hand off the self destruct button and stops you beating yourself.

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Building Blocks

MEN = 70% errors / 30% winners
WOMEN = 74% errors / 26% winners

Forcing errors is the best way to construct a point.
You can simply break tennis down into primary and secondary patterns of play - and they are all covered here. Primary patterns include serve and return direction, forehands v backhands, and the best way to approach the net. Secondary patterns include drop shots, serve & volley and 1st volley options. If you play tournaments, this product will greatly help you simplify the singles court.

The conversation starts & ends with the Center Window.

The doubles court is like an hourglass. There are two big ends, but a small neck in the middle where all the action happens. Once you learn the power of the Center Window, where you stand to start the point will take on a lot more significance.

Doubles is a lot more about situations, with four people on the court all "dancing" with one another. Learn all the best doubles patterns, broken down for the server, returner, server's partner and the returner's partner.

Doubles Situations

The "J" - the most ideal movement for the returner's partner to attack the net.

The "V" - a better way of understanding where the server's partner should move to.

Volley Targets - there are four main areas to attack. Know which ones are higher percentage. Beach Volleyball - the idea of a "setter" and "spiker" is ideal for the doubles court.

There are certain parts of the court that the ball travels to a lot, and other low percentage areas that you really don't want to cover at all - like the alley! In general, the serving team wants to keep the ball in the middle of the court as much as possible (to help the server's partner), while the returning team benefits from hitting wider and creating more chaos in the point.

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