First Serve
There has often been a lot of emphasis on the serve in men’s tennis. However, the serve, especially the first serve, is crucial to success on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour as well. Amelie Mauresmo served very well to win Wimbledon in 2006 and served very poorly when she was upset at the 2007 Championships. Serena Williams won the 2007 Australian Open largely because she served so well, especially in tight situations. Venus Williams, the
2007 Wimbledon Ladies’ Singles Champion, used a strong first serve to power her way through her matches. In the semis, Venus made 74% of her first serves and in the finals she connected on 70% of them. In contrast, Marion Bartoli’s first serve is much slower than Venus’, but Bartoli still needs it to set up points. Bartoli’s first serve percentage in the semis was 86% with only two double faults over three sets compared to 5 double faults and only a 63% first serve percentage in the finals. For many top female players, success is quite related to how well they are serving, especially their first serve percentage. Consider the results over the past year of Serena Williams, Amelie Mauresmo and Maria Sharapova. For these women, it may not be about how many aces or 140 MPH serves they hit, but it is more that their strong serving allows them to dictate play and pull themselves out of difficult situations. At the same time, confidence in the rest of a player’s game is often quite related to how well they are serving.
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