Serena Williams’ Coach Details Difference Between Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev’s Return Serve

There is a difference between Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev in the way they return serve. According to Serena Williams’ coach Patrick Mouratoglou, there are two separate ways of returning your opponent’s first serve.

Novak Djokovic returns his opponent’s serve very differently than the way Medvedev or Alexander Zverev do. Additionally, Mouratoglou highlights in detail how the two returns are different.

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Novak Djokovic leaves little space between the server and himself

In an Instagram post, Mouratoglou says that there are two ways to return serve; a classical way and a new one. World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, prefers the former. “The player stays close to the baseline, which implies that he has to shorten his preparation because the ball is coming very fast.”

“The classical way- like for example, Novak Djokovic.” Mouratoglou talks of how Novak Djokovic leaves “not so much distance between the server and the returner.”

Clearly, this is a testament to the reflexes of Novak Djokovic in returning serve quicker. On the other hand, the newer way to return serve is seen in the way Daniil Medvedev or Zverev do it.

This is what the coach calls the ‘new way’, where Medvedev and Zverev are “staying extremely far from the baseline.”

In doing so, per Mouratoglou, Zverev and Medvedev, in particular, save a lot of time. “So they start the rally hitting the ball with full swing, and Medvedev is doing that extremely well.”

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Medvedev is a nightmare for servers

Mouratoglou explains how everybody thought that hitting the ball from far behind the baseline requires extra strength. However, Medvedev has proven everyone wrong.

“Everybody thought that in order to hit the ball from very far from the baseline you have to be super powerful and hit with a lot of topspin. But Medvedev hits flat, deep, and fast from extremely far,” Patrick explains.

This is why the French coach calls him a nightmare for even the best servers in the sport.

However, he highlights how this leaves room for one weakness to be exploited. By staying so far behind the baseline, a drop serve or an underarm serve leaves players too far behind the line to get to the ball in time.