19-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal believes underarm serving is a legitimate tactic in the sport as long as it is used right by the players.
The world No.2 shared his thoughts about the serve following his clinical 6-1, 6-0, 6-3, second round win over Mackenzie McDonald at the French Open. In recent months more players have been seen using the method during their matches in a bid to catch out their opponents standing behind the baseline on the other side of the court. At Roland Garros Alexander Bublik is perhaps one of the best known to use underarm serving effectively. Others who have also taken a similar approach in Paris include Jelena Ostapenko, Sara Errani and Daniil Medvedev.
“I don’t see it as disrespectful,” Nadal commented on underarm serving. “If you do it with the goal to improve your game, or like a tactical thing, I support it 100%. But if you do it to disrespect the opponent, it is not a good thing.”
“It Is part of the rules, you can do it. Is about yourself and if you feel good doing or not.”
Although there are occasions when such a practice shouldn’t be played during matches, which was highlighted during Nadal’s latest victory. Taking on McDonald the American tried to catch him out but it dramatically back fired with Nadal blasting a forehand winner.
“If he’s winning, it is a good tactic. If he’s losing, it is a bad tactic. That’s all. For example, today for Mackenzie it was not a good tactic,” said Nadal.
The latest victory at Roland Garros is the 95th in Nadal’s career. He is expected to stroll into the second week of the tournament after all three seeded players in his section crashed out. In the third round he will play Italian world No.74 Stefano Travaglia. Then in the fourth round it will be either Sebastian Korda or Pedro Martinez. Two qualifiers ranked outside the top 100.
“I am working hard in every practice to try to be better and better with every match. Today was not that cold, so that’s the main thing,” Nadal commented on the current conditions in Paris.
“The ball is still heavy. But when it is not that cold, the ball is a little bit less heavy and I see the (weather) predictions over the next couple of days are not very good.”
Nadal will play his third round match on Friday.
