Top coach says Nick Kyrgios has the all-time best serve

James Richardson
March 6, 2023

Patrick Mouratoglou rates Nick Kyrgios’ serve as the all-time best the game has ever seen.

Notwithstanding changes to rackets and balls down the years, Mouratoglou feels that modern players are much better returners and that Kyrgios stands head and shoulders above the rest.

Kyrgios isn’t built in the mould of a traditional tennis player and has admitted that he built his game around his serve because he hated running as kid taking up the sport.

He soon discovered that a blistering serve would save him a whole lot of sweat and tears.

His serve is such that when he is really dialled in not even the likes of Novak Djokovic, arguably the best returner to ever play the game, struggles to deal with his awesome serves.

Kyrgios doesn’t lose much in speed and depth on his second serve and taken in isolation, Mouratoglou feels he is an unmatched talent.

“Kyrgios is number one because players return much better today and he’s undoubtedly the current best.”

Mouratouglou released a video to social media where he briefly listed his top five servers in tennis history, limited to players he has seen play.

He ranked Wimbledon marathon man John Isner as second best, noting his efforts in the longest tennis match ever, when he went unbroken for over 8 hours.

Andy Roddick earned third place in the list with Mouratouglou in awe of the raw power and physicality of the man who is to date still the last American man to win a Grand Slam.

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“Andy had the most violent way to hit a serve in the tennis history,” Mouratouglou said.

Serving can often be more about the physical gifts of the athlete, although without proper technique that will never translate to success on the court.

The man he ranks as fourth, Ivo Karlovic, had both as he measures a massive 211 cm tall (according to ATPTour.com statistics) and had a smooth serve.

Mouratouglou declared: “Thanks to his height, he made a great career mostly based on his serve.”

He ranked Pete Sampras fifth on the list. ‘Pistol Pete’ dominated Wimbledon and the hard court slams in the late 90s off the back of a deadly serve.

“Pete had the most unpredictable and unreadable serve both on first and second,” Mouratouglou said.

Social media being what it is fans were ready to jump in and correct the coach of multiple Grand Slam winners, but not a few raised the point that his omission of Goran Ivanisevic could be considered an oversight.

Andy Roddick Nick Kyrgios Pete Sampras