Serena Williams won a ticket to the women’s singles semi-finals of the 2015 US Open tennis tournament after defeating her sister Venus. She is closer to the feat of becoming the first player to win all four Grand Slams in the year after Steffi Graf since 1988.
Serena is dominating the women’s tennis world – Photo: AFP
Serena has a big secret in her thunderous serve, not losing to the serve tycoons in men’s tennis. That’s an unusual type of toss. This also greatly contributed to the victories that helped her have such a brilliant career today.
This summer, when Serena visited her father Richard, the two watched tapes of Serena’s matches together as usual, including one recorded by ESPN . Images from this station show that her launching trajectory is similar and the point of contact is almost the same on every serve. Meanwhile, in the case of Maria Sharapova, these factors are discrete. Serena was also surprised at the stability of her serve mechanism.
Serena’s tossing style is extraordinary. Most coaches ask players to hold the ball with their fingertips, extend their arms and throw it up, then release the ball. This movement is more like lifting than tossing. Serena has mastered the lifting motion, but she holds the ball lower than the others and rolls it through her fingertips as she tosses it up. If you look closely at Roger Federer’s toss, you will see that the ball has little spin. At Serena, the ball spun a lot, seemingly out of control.
The act of tossing the ball seems simple, but in reality it is difficult. Except for players who are particularly good at this, such as Pete Sampras (14 Grand Slam championships) or Goran Ivanisevic, there are many professional tennis players who still struggle with it. Ana Ivanovic’s unstable shots have caused her to fall relatively deep in the rankings after being ranked number 1 in the world in 2008.
Serena’s way of tossing the ball is quite special – Photo: AFP
Serena’s toss is reliable because she releases the ball while moving forward. The unique toss style also helps her “hide” her serve. Many players toss the ball slightly backwards because they want to rub the racket face on it to create spin or high jerk when it hits the court. Serena serves the ball straight, strong like a smash or spin or high loop all from the same toss. Therefore, her opponents always have to “guess”.
In the win over young compatriot Madison Keys, Serena ended the first set with a surprising second serve. At that time, instead of serving the ball with spin towards Keys’ backhand, she shot the ball at a speed of nearly 160 km/h, into the middle of the service box, towards her opponent’s forehand. Keys returns the serve outside the line.
In addition, Serena is also a master of serving at the right time. In the Australian Open final, she ended the match with a very strong serve. The referee judged that the ball touched the net. Serena served again and won with another direct winner. According to the WTA Professional Women’s Tennis Association, in 52 matches this season, Serena scored 498 direct serves. Entering competition at the US Open, she led in the percentage of straight games holding the right to serve and the percentage of saving
