Stefanos Tsitsipas made a specific change to his service in 2024. Image: keystone
The Greek tennis player (11th in the world) has made a change in his game, which can allow him to return to the top.
23.02.2024, 12:0023.02.2024, 12:52
The long winter break between mid-November and early January is always an opportunity for tennis(wo)men to work in depth, whether on their physical condition and/or their technique. Stefanos Tsitsipas took the opportunity to make a small change, besides shortening his haircut.
From his first round at the Australian Open, the Greek adopted a different gesture when serving. The modification is not obvious, because it is not spectacular and is located at the level of the legs. The current world number 11 now applies the technique known as “support relays”, as highlighted by the specialized account on X “Tiebreak Podcast”.
🇬🇷 Tsitsipas has changed his serve!
It goes from a fixed support to a support relay!
Looking forward to seeing what it can change in his game, he who was already serving very well 🎯 pic.twitter.com/vmI04NScMr
— Tie-break 🎙 (@TiebreakPodcast) February 22, 2024
Behind this barbaric term hides a simple concept: while the ball is in the air, just before hitting it, Tsitsipas brings his back (right) leg level with his front leg, scraping his foot on the ground. So, at the time of the strike, his legs and feet are glued together.
The movement of the rear leg with support relays
image: screenshot x/watson
This was not the case with his old gesture, where he used “fixed supports”. His feet did not move from the ground and remained apart throughout the service at the same distance (approximately shoulder width). This is the technique used by Roger Federer, for example. But it is a minority on the ATP circuit and even more so among women.
Federer’s serve, with feet apart throughout the serve
Image: KEYSTONE
It is interesting to note that Stefanos Tsitsipas navigated between the two techniques during the last Australian Open (where he was beaten in the round of 16 by Taylor Fritz), including during the same match. An observation which proves the ease with which the 25-year-old Greek can adapt. It is, in fact, very difficult in terms of coordination to change a gesture that we have performed thousands of times, even if only on a small detail. Many amateur players who never manage to get rid of their technical faults, despite hours of lessons, can testify to this…
Two big advantages
At the Los Cabos tournament in Mexico this week, the 2021 Roland-Garros finalist – who will face Casper Ruud in the semi-final on Saturday – seems to have definitively opted for the “support relays”. We readily imagine that, if he made this technical change suddenly, it is because it offers advantages. This is the case, according to a study by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) dating from 2015.
Tsitsipas’ old service 📺
Video: youtube
Tsitsipas’ new service 📺
Video: twitter
She cites another work which notes that “when expert players use the support relay technique, they reach on average higher ball speeds (173.2 km/h compared to 166.3 km/h with supports). discarded)”. In other words: an average acceleration of 7km/h. It is explained by the imbalance caused by the movement of the rear leg, which suddenly stops just behind the front leg. “Blocking a part of a moving body (here the feet) results in a certain amount of rotation of the body,” details the ITF.
“This amount of rotation of the server’s body forward is greater with the handstand relay than with the feet apart. However, the greater the amount of rotation of the player’s body forward, the more the ball speed increases.
ITF study (2015)
Besides increasing the power of the serve, bringing the back leg has another big advantage: it ensures a better margin to go over the netenough to avoid mistakes.
“The support relay allows you to hit the ball higher than the spread support technique. Indeed, an average gain of 11 cm was recorded between the two techniques (2.65 m with support relay versus 2.54 m with spread support) among expert players.
ITF study (2015)
In addition to providing security, this technique, by hitting the ball higher, gives more angles to the server, who can thus vary and overwhelm his opponent.
Djokovic has also modified his serve over time👇
We therefore understand why many tennis players of smaller size opt for this gesture. But let those who keep their feet apart rest assured: their method is far from being has been. A certain Novak Djokovic, world number 1, applies it. And he is by far not known for being a serving pincher. As with other tennis shots, success is above all a question of good sensations.
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2024-02-23 11:27:57
#Tsitsipas #changed #game
