Has Andy Murray created a ‘tipping point’ in the debate on using the under-arm serve as a legitimate tactic?
Former world number one, Andy Murray did an under-arm serve for the first time in his career at Indian Wells in 2021 in his match against Carols Alcaraz ( click here for clip & post match interview) . Murray has become a bit of a ‘go to’ for many people on key issues in tennis as he has not only been a very successful player but also someone who seems to have a great sense of ‘right and wrong’. He has been very forthright on the topics of gender equality and also recently on players use of bathroom breaks/injury timeouts. I have been moving towards a personal position of the under-arm serving been a ‘fair tactic’ for a year or so now. I am 42 years old and throughout my time in tennis the message on under-arm serving has been pretty standard, in that it is an ‘unsporting’ shot to play. A great example being when Martina Hingis did one to save a championship point at 5-2 in the 1999 French Open. Hingis won the point but the crowd then booed her relentlessly for the remainder of the ...