Interactive Forum February 2025: Alex Michelsen Serve

[johnyandell]

Alex Michelsen Serve

20 year old Alex Michelsen has had quite a second year on tour so far! He reached the round of 16 at the Australian Open with two top 20 wins, beating both Stefanos Tsitsipas and Karen Khachanov. And recently he helped the US defeat Tawain in Davis Cup, winning his singles match on to help the team advance.

Here is a look at his powerful serve. What do you guys think of his motion? And what about his head position on contact?

[seano]

Few quick observations -
1) Slight lateral pinpoint stance - limits rear hip loading. Factor in collapsing to the left, head position
2) Limited leg use - doesn't have consistent knee bend. Seems to lean forward, almost falling into court instead of exploding up, first .
3) Limited elbow in trophy position - doesn't find the straight line from elbow/shoulder/elbow, after the toss, until the start of his racquet drop (I believe Alcaraz had a similar issue)
4) No consistency to reaching 180 degrees of ISR

[hybridfh]

Few quick observations -
1) Slight lateral pinpoint stance - limits rear hip loading. Factor in collapsing to the left, head position
2) Limited leg use - doesn't have consistent knee bend. Seems to lean forward, almost falling into court instead of exploding up, first .
3) Limited elbow in trophy position - doesn't find the straight line from elbow/shoulder/elbow, after the toss, until the start of his racquet drop (I believe Alcaraz had a similar issue)
4) No consistency to reaching 180 degrees of ISR

Re your item 4), seems pretty consistent on the Ad side (where it's easier to do), but on the Deuce side it seems to vary between 'not good' and 'just barely enough'. A bit tough to say for sure without seeing if they were all wide sliders, but I agree that his ISR doesn't seem great.

I also think he opens up too much before contact.

[seano]

hybridfh -

Definitely agree about opening up too early. The semi-lateral pinpoint and lack of rear hip loading may be a major cause.

[jimlosaltos]

Here are two images of Alex at impact, in case they are of interest.
I've got more but since we've got a future Tour Portrait planned, I don't want to "leak" all of them.

Alex serve front and back views at impact, one to deuce one to ad court, (c)jfawcette

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[jeffreycounts]

That's a great shot! Amazing how he is looking straight forward. It's a mantra in tennis instruction to keep your head up looking at the ball on contact.

Just to put things in context, Alex can hit 135mph serves.

[jimlosaltos]

That's a great shot! Amazing how he is looking straight forward. It's a mantra in tennis instruction to keep your head up looking at the ball on contact.

Just to put things in context, Alex can hit 135mph serves.

Thanks! Alex has a good game, fun to watch. Feels to me kind of blue collar, if that makes sense. He works at it.

Has wins over the likes of Hurckaz, Tsitsipas (2X), Khachanov. 20 years old. 36th in the world.

[arturohernandez]

Thanks! Alex has a good game, fun to watch. Feels to me kind of blue collar, if that makes sense. He works at it.

Has wins over the likes of Hurckaz, Tsitsipas (2X), Khachanov. 20 years old. 36th in the world.

That was my thought too! Produces power through tension rather than through fluidness. It can work but a fluid serve is better in the long run. If only fluidity were that easy...

[doctorhl]

Re your item 4), seems pretty consistent on the Ad side (where it's easier to do), but on the Deuce side it seems to vary between 'not good' and 'just barely enough'. A bit tough to say for sure without seeing if they were all wide sliders, but I agree that his ISR doesn't seem great.

I also think he opens up too much before contact.

It would seem that his early opening influences his head position and lack of ISR. If this is true, can someone decribe this breakdown biomechanically.

[jimlosaltos]

Just FYI -
Alex Michelsen's serve statistics include:

1st serve: 68% of first serves
1st serve points won: 70% of first serve points
2nd serve points won: 52% of second serve points
Break points faced: 560
Break points saved: 61% of break points
Service games played: 1115
Service games won: 80% of service games
Total service points won: 64% of total service points

Max Serve Speed: 130 mph (210 km/h)
Average 1st Serve Speed: 118 mph (190 km/h)
Average 2nd Serve Speed: 94 mph (152 km/

[oldguy13]

I also think that the serve toss is a bit high. He is struggling to be consistent on serve, maybe have to change something.

[stotty]

That's a great shot! Amazing how he is looking straight forward. It's a mantra in tennis instruction to keep your head up looking at the ball on contact.

Just to put things in context, Alex can hit 135mph serves.

If you study clips of servers on contact, you will find many don’t keep their head up watching the ball. Rusedski was famous for dropping his head early yet served in the 140s.

[stotty]

It would seem that his early opening influences his head position and lack of ISR. If this is true, can someone decribe this breakdown biomechanically.

It’s never been clear to me why some players lack complete ISR. Ball toss placement and grip are the first port of call when investigating absent ISR, but many players have a perfect service grip and correct ball toss placement yet still don’t achieve ISR. It’s a mystery at times. As a coach, I can set about creating ISR in a player but am often stumped as to why ISR didn’t naturally occur in the first place. Another mystery is ISR is often cited as a major source of power, yet it can be seen absent in some very powerful serves indeed. ISR is one of those issues that needs further investigation in my view as it’s clearly possible to server well without it.

[hybridfh]

It’s never been clear to me why some players lack complete ISR. Ball toss placement and grip are the first port of call when investigating absent ISR, but many players have a perfect service grip and correct ball toss placement yet still don’t achieve ISR. It’s a mystery at times. As a coach, I can set about creating ISR in a player but am often stumped as to why ISR didn’t naturally occur in the first place. Another mystery is ISR is often cited as a major source of power, yet it can be seen absent in some very powerful serves indeed. ISR is one of those issues that needs further investigation in my view as it’s clearly possible to server well without it.

In my own serving, when the ISR is not as evident usually it's a flatter serve...not as heavy. As for why some lack complete ISR, I think they just never really worked on it. Some get lucky and develop it anyway, but some don't.

When I see weak ISR in a player it usually means their 2nd serve will have issues. Players who throw in a lot of double faults hitting long usually have ISR problems - and lack good ball action - in their 1st serves. I've also noticed that club players with weak ISR often develop shoulder problems when they start hitting more serve reps in practice.

[jimlosaltos]

It’s never been clear to me why some players lack complete ISR. Ball toss placement and grip are the first port of call when investigating absent ISR, but many players have a perfect service grip and correct ball toss placement yet still don’t achieve ISR. It’s a mystery at times. As a coach, I can set about creating ISR in a player but am often stumped as to why ISR didn’t naturally occur in the first place. Another mystery is ISR is often cited as a major source of power, yet it can be seen absent in some very powerful serves indeed. ISR is one of those issues that needs further investigation in my view as it’s clearly possible to server well without it.

Among the best in this category Delpo ?

1 of 3

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2 of 3

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3 of 3

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(c)jawcette from San Jose and Indian Wells ATP

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