Casper Ruud explains why he thinks male players find it so difficult to return Sara Errani’s serve

Follow us on Google Discover

Casper Ruud was one of four ATP players who had to face the surprise challenge of returning Sara Errani’s serve.

Ruud and Iga Swiatek finished as runners-up at the US Open mixed doubles event, losing in the final to Errani and Andrea Vavassori.

It appeared that there was a point to be made from defending champions Errani and Vavassori, who had criticised the US Open for the changes they had made to the mixed doubles event.

That was not the only challenge they had to overcome, with Errani needing to try and defend her serve against some of the hardest hitting ATP players.

Casper Ruud says what is ‘the most frustrating thing’ about returning Sara Errani’s serve

Former Roland Garros singles finalist Errani has become synonymous with her serve, which is regularly under 70mph.

The Italian sometimes even resorts to using an underarm serve, something she attempted to do against Ruud and Swiatek on championship point.

Despite the obvious weaknesses Errani has on her serve, many ATP players struggled to return it, something Ruud believes is related to the pressure that her partner Vavassori puts on at the net.

“I also do a few errors there that I’m not going to say I normally do but I would like to have back,” Ruud said in his post-match press conference. “Just they fit because Andrea moves so well at the net. Singles players don’t think about crossing when someone serves at 70 miles an hour. It’s like a fear for us of crossing. We’re not used to that. We’re not used to seeing that on our own return.

“The most frustrating thing is you feel like you hit a good return, he’s there, he puts away a volley. You have it all going in your head, Don’t hit where he is, don’t hit where he is. He covers a lot in the middle, then suddenly he chooses a side.

“At the end I told myself to just pick a spot. If he’s there and hits a volley, too good. I think we broke her at least twice. I don’t think she was broken until the final during the whole tournament. At least we got the two breaks.

“It’s a different look, yes. You get a little bit more used to it. But it’s just a mix of her coming at a different pace and him moving incredibly well. They know each other well. They play with each other every slam. They make a good fit.

“But yeah, it’s been kind of fun and frustrating seeing that we shank forehand returns when we’re not supposed to. It’s also creds to Andrea for moving so quickly and well at the net.”

Sara Errani’s serve vs ATP players in the US Open mixed doubles event

Errani had to serve against some of the best players on the ATP Tour during their run at the US Open mixed doubles event including world number four Taylor Fritz.

However, alongside Elena Rybakina, Fritz was unable to break Errani’s serve once and neither were Andrey Rublev and Karolina Muchova.

In her 14 service games at the US Open mixed doubles event, Errani was only broken three times, while Vavassori was broken just twice.

Ruud and Swiatek broke Errani more than any other team, but they had more opportunities to do so as the final was played in the traditional first to six format.