Alexander Zverev has made an interesting change to his serve, according to Andy Roddick.
The German fired himself back into contention to win his first Grand Slam after winning the Italian Open on Sunday.
It has been a difficult two years for the 27-year-old following a devastating ankle injury sustained at the 2022 French Open against Rafael Nadal.
He has gradually fought his way back up the rankings since returning from his injury that kept him out of action for eight months.
He is now back in the world’s top four after claiming his first Masters 1000 title since 2021 and his second championship at the Italian Open.
Andy Roddick highlights how Alexander Zverev’s serve has improved
Zverev brings many weapons to a tennis court, but one of his most lethal is the serve. At one point in his career the serve was the German’s Achilles heel, as his second serve and number of double faults cost him dearly in some matches.
But Roddick, who possessed one of the best serves in tennis history, pinpointed how the former US Open finalist has improved his delivery over the last several years, and he mentioned an impressive statistic.
“His serve is phenomenal, he has one of the biggest serves on tour this year,” Roddick said on his ‘Served’ podcast. “And for the entire year he is serving 74% first serves in. Nobody else is close to that.
“Even massive servers. Kyrgios is the only one and he’s a podcaster now like me! Compare that to 2018, he was serving 64% first serves in.
“So 10 percentage points up over that period is absurd. You know the best way to protect a faulty second serve, make 10 per cent more first serves in.”
Andy Roddick shares thoughts on Alexander Zverev’s career after latest title win
Roddick provided a glowing assessment of Zverev who clinched the 22nd title of his career after defeating Nicolas Jarry at the Italian Open.
After failing to reach the semi-finals of any clay court event prior to Rome, this was a timely win for the German who will go in search of his first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros.
Roddick thinks this victory inserted the player back in the conversation as a threat for all the big titles and outlined one title missing from his impressive résumé.
“I feel like we didn’t even talk about Zverev in Rome until he played Taylor Fritz in the quarters and he played a great match against him, ran right through him, four and three,” Roddick added. “He has won six Masters tournaments now. This guy is a slam away from being a hall of fame player.”
Receive exclusive tennis news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
