Serena Williams’ former coach explains the advantage Roger Federer always had on his serve

Federer didn’t have the frame and strength akin to the likes of John Isner and Ivo Karlovic, but he still managed to generate an enormous amount of power on his serve, which Serena Williams’ former coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, puts down to his setup.

Patrick Mouratoglou details Roger Federer’s service motion

In a post on LinkedIn, Mouratoglou explained why tennis players have completely different stances during the service motion. The Frenchman said: “Zverev serves with his head perfectly straight, facing the court. Federer and McEnroe turn their shoulders so much that they almost show their back to it. Did you ever wonder why? The reason is something most players never think about: their dominant eye.

“The serve is one of the two most important shots in tennis. At the professional level, 70% of points are decided within the first four shots, and those shots depend a lot on the serve. So everything that happens before you even toss the ball matters, starting with your position. Don’t try to copy the pros. You are unique, and your dominant eye should decide your starting position.

“Rule number one: when you serve, your dominant eye must always face the court. First, because your vision tells you where to serve. Second, because if it doesn’t, you’ll feel completely lost in the space.

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“If you are right eye dominant, like Zverev, Medvedev or Djokovic, your head needs to stay perfectly straight so your right eye faces the court. A simple check is comfort. In the right position, you feel comfortable. Turn further to the side and at some point you won’t be, and your head will start to turn. That’s your limit.

“If you are left-eye dominant, like Roger Federer or John McEnroe, it’s a different story. You can turn your shoulders, and your left eye still faces the net. Your head can turn too, maybe 45 or 60 degrees towards the fence (not too much, of course), and you still see the whole court. Why is that an advantage? More upper-body rotation.

“That means more power. Your feet don’t have to be perpendicular to the baseline. They can sit at around a 45-degree angle, on the deuce side as well as the ad side. That’s exactly how Roger always served: turning his back to the court a lot, while seeing it perfectly.

“If you’re right-eye dominant, don’t worry. You won’t be able to rotate that much, but you’ll find other ways to create power. If you’re left-eye dominant, don’t miss that opportunity. If you ignore your dominant eye, you can end up serving from positions where your serve is completely inefficient.”

On the ATP Tour this year, world number one Jannik Sinner has the highest serve rating, with a tally of 306.8.

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