Nick Kyrgios has the best serve of all time on the ATP tour, Andy Roddick in the top 5: Serena Williams' former coach Patrick Mouratoglou
Nick Kyrgios is second to none in men's tennis history as far as the serve is concerned, according to leading tennis coach Patrick Mouratoglou. The French coach, who has worked with probably the greatest server of all time in women's tennis, Serena Williams, recently named his top-5 picks for the best serve on the men's circuit.
It is no secret that Kyrgios' serve is his biggest weapon, making him one of the toughest players to return against. As per Mouratoglou, players in the modern era are much better returners of serve than previous generations of players, and the fact that most top players still find it difficult to consistently read Kyrgios' serve makes him the best of all time.
"Kyrgios is number one because players return much better today and he's undoubtedly the current best," Patrick Mouratoglou said in a video on his Instagram account, naming his favorite serves.
Mouratoglou also included Andy Roddick in his list, giving him the third spot. The Frenchman opined that the American great had the most 'violent' manner of smashing a serve.
"Andy had the most violent way to hit a serve in the tennis history," Mouratoglou stated.
John Isner, who set a world record for most aces served on the ATP tour last July, took second place in Mouratoglou's ratings. The coach highlighted Isner's serving performance during his famous 11-hour long match against Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon.
"He (Isner) played the longest match in tennis history and he wasn't broken for 8 hours in a row," the 52-year-old coach said.
Towering Croatian Ivo Karlovic and American tennis legend Pete Sampras took the fourth and fifth spots, respectively, in Mouratoglou's rankings. He highlighted the unpredictability of Sampras' serve back in the day that played a big role in his success.
"Pete had the most unpredictable and unreadable serve both on first and second," Mouratoglou explained.
"Thanks to his (Ivo Karlovic) height, he made a great career mostly based on his serve," he said on the 6 ft 11 in tall Karlovic.
Nick Kyrgios will not compete in Indian Wells and Miami Open 2023
Nick Kyrgios has still not completely recovered from a knee injury that required surgery, forcing him to miss both the upcoming Indian Wells and Miami Masters tournaments. After undergoing surgery in mid-January, Kyrgios and his team had earlier expressed their intention for a comeback at Indian Wells, which begins this coming week. The World No. 19 has not played a single tournament so far this season after initially suffering from the knee problem shortly before the United Cup.
Kyrgios reached the quarterfinals at Indian Wells last season, where he lost a three-set thriller against Rafael Nadal. He then reached the Round of 16 at the Miami Open before losing to Jannik Sinner.
It will be interesting to see whether Nick Kyrgios now makes a comeback during the claycourt season, a surface on which he does not prefer playing.