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3 March 2026

Sine of a Great Serve

It's fairly obvious that taller players have an easier time hitting accurate serves (closer to the centre or side line), but I wasn't expecting quite such a stark grouping difference.

Scatter plot of the ATP top 20 by average first-serve speed (114 to 130 mph) against first-serve accuracy, measured as average landing distance from the side or centre line (lower is more precise), coloured by player height. Zverev and Mensik serve fastest at 128 mph, Djokovic is the most accurate at about 50cm at the tour-average 119 mph, and Fritz and Mensik combine pace with accuracy of around 51 to 52cm.

Elite sub-6ft2 (188cm) spot servers don't seem to exist at the moment, with most shorter guys favouring power.

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