Patrick Mouratoglou explains why Nick Kyrgios' serve is "so good," likens the Aussie's delivery to that of Pete Sampras
Renowned tennis coach Patrick Mouratoglou recently uploaded a video analysis of Nick Kyrgios' serve on social media, where he compared the Aussie's delivery to that of Pete Sampras.
Kyrgios and Sampras are both regarded as the best servers in tennis history, given their ability to consistently hit their spots with a massive degree of power and precision.
The Frenchman posted his video analysis on Instagram, captioning it:
"Why @k1ngkyrg1os’ serve is so good? Let’s break it down."
Mouratoglou believes Nick Kyrgios' serve is "unpredictable," given he can land the ball at any spot, all from the same toss. The renowned coach also pointed out that Kyrgios is among a rare breed of players who strike the ball when it is on an upward trajectory during the ball toss.
"I think he's completely unpredictable. He can serve any zone and he has always the same toss," Patrick Mouratoglou said. "Always the same. He's hitting the ball almost on its way up which is very rare in today's game. The rhythm is always the same."
The 52-year-old highlighted how Pete Sampras, like Nick Kyrgios, had a serve that was very difficult to read.
"The ability to be impossible to read, the serve - is a big asset," he said. "That was the asset of Pete Sampras also.
"All the players were saying its impossible to see where the ball is going because the toss is always the same. And at the last moment, he decides to go this way or this way. So, impossible to see it and I think he's disguising the serve extremely well."
Mouratoglou explained how Sampras' upper limbs are blessed with enough mobility, allowing him to generate huge amounts of power on his serve.
The 14-time Major champion regularly touched 130 mph on his serve, which is quite a feat for a player of 6'1" height.
"The fact that his hand is so loose gives him so much power like for a guy of his height, he's serving huge, without making effort," Mouratoglou said. "You can see that his serve is effortless. Its just rhythm which is the best."
"Nick Kyrgios never thinks it's a second serve, he thinks, 'I'm gonna ace it' " - Patrick Mouratoglou
Patrick Mouratoglou then went on to explain the quality of Nick Kyrgios' serve in the video. He highlighted how the Aussie's deft touch gives him an immense amount of accuracy on his serve.
"He (Nick Kyrgios) has unbelievable hands and we can see it in the game, so when he touches the ball on the serve he has such a feel that his accuracy is unbelievable," Mouratoglou explained.
According to the coach, the sheer power in Kyrgios' serve comes from the mobility he has in his arms, which allows him to generate a "whip effect" on his deliveries.
"He has power because his rhythm is great and if you look at his hand, his hand is completely free so he has an incredible whip effect on the serve, and I think he's very flexible also so he's able to find the short zone," he explained. "Short cross here. Which is the one that is the most difficult to find by the way."
Serena Williams' former coach further reckons Kyrgios' ability and confidence allow him to go for an ace even on his second serve.
"And on his second serve, he has such confidence on his serve that he can go full with a lot of success. He never thinks it's a second serve," he added. "He thinks, 'I'm gonna ace.' You can see it. When you serve with so much confidence, big difference."