The King of the Underhand Serve? Nick Kyrgios

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The King of the Underhand Serve? Nick Kyrgios

Nick Kyrgios made waves in Acapulco when he tried—and missed—and underhand serve against Rafael Nadal. It was a topic of debate for a few weeks, with many players, pundits and fans weighing in on whether the underhand serve is a legit tactic in modern tennis.

This week that debate will take center stage again as the Aussie used the underhand serve to great effect on Sunday night during his win over Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic at the Miami Open.

Make your Monday less boring with this @NickKyrgios underarm ace 😎#MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/eH6mIrWpIB
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 25, 2019

Federer commented on the underhand serve as a tactic a few weeks back, saying:

“Yeah, underarm is definitely a tactic, I believe. Especially when guys are hugging the fence in the back. From that standpoint, shouldn’t be ashamed if you try it out. Just look silly if you miss it sometimes. Why not try it? The problem is like in practice, you never really try it. When you come out in the big stage in front of a full crowd, tricky to pull off.”

And now Andy Murray’s mother, Judy Murray, has taken to Twitter to back the Aussie.

The underarm serve. 💕 The whole point of tennis competition is to disrupt ur opponents game by applying pressure through changing the speed, spin, direction, depth or height of the ball. And that includes the serve. Kyrgios is a genius. I’m surprised more players don’t do it. pic.twitter.com/lBfI8XM7MN
— judy murray (@JudyMurray) March 25, 2019

Critics of the tactic—and of Kyrgios—will surely disagree, and only one thing is certain. That the debate will continue if Kyrgios keeps using the serve. We think he’s having too much fun to stop, so stay tuned…

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