"My serve wasn't better than Pete, Goran, Karlovic"- Andy Roddick joins Brad Gilbert, Patrick Mouratoglou and Ivan Ljubicic on serve debate
Former World No. 1 Andy Roddick joined Brad Gilbert and Ivan Ljubicic in debating Serena Williams' former coach Patrick Mouratoglou's list of top five serves on the ATP Tour made by.
In a video shared on social media, Mouratoglou ranked Nick Kyrgios at No. 1, with John Isner, Roddick, Ivo Karlovic, and Pete Sampras rounding out the top five in that order.
Quite a few disagreed with the Frenchman's list, with former American player and coach Brad Gilbert claiming that Sampras should be ranked higher. He also questioned the omissions of players like Boris Becker and Goran Ivanisevic, both of whom were highly regarded for their serves.
Andy Roddick responded to Gilbert's post by claiming that his serve wasn't better than Sampras and Ivanisevic's, as suggested by Mouratoglou. The 2003 US Open champion also gave a shoutout to Australia's Wayne Arthurs, who was considered one of the best servers of his generation.
"My serve wasn’t better than Pete, Goran, Karlovic etc ….. Also someone like Arthurs who didn’t have much else. Doesn’t mean his serve wasn’t one of the best," Andy Roddick tweeted.
@bgtennisnation My serve wasn’t better than Pete, Goran, Karlovic etc ….. Also someone like Arthurs who didn’t have much else. Doesn’t mean his serve wasn’t one of the best
Gilbert later made a list of the best servers from different eras, with Sampras, Becker, and Ivanisevic being his top three servers from the 1980s and 90s. He had Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, and Ivo Karlovic in his top three during the 2000s.
Federer also made Gilbert's top three from 2010 to 2020s in the third spot, behind Kyrgios and Isner.
@atptour @AndreAgassi @BNPPARIBASOPEN
My takes👍😎👊💪👍 https://t.co/7pNoa4posr
Another former player who disagreed with Mouratoglou's list was Federer's former coach Ivan Ljubicic. The Croat rated his compatriot Goran Ivanisevic, who is currently coaching Novak Djokovic, higher than each of the five players on the Frenchman's list.
Mouratoglou responded to Ljubicic's claim by wondering who would make way to accommodate either Ivanisevic or Federer.
No problem to add names of other great servers. Goran was an incredible server. The question is : who do you take out of this list to place him, or Roger ? twitter.com/sk__tennis/sta…
Nick Kyrgios responds to Patrick Mouratoglou placing him at top of his list of all-time serves on ATP Tour
Patrick Mouratoglou rated Nick Kyrgios' serve as the best in the history of the ATP Tour, claiming that he served better than everyone else in an era when players return better.
"Kyrgios is number one because players return much better today and he's undoubtedly the current best," the 52-year-old said.
The Aussie responded to the Frenchman's claim with a set of 'cold face' emojis on Instagram.