Alexander Zverev’s serve is at once among the most potent and also the most perplexing weapons in tennis. When it is working as it should, which is about 98% of the time, the German feels all but unbreakable. And in whatever time is left, it can all fall apart.
Zverev, who was the No 3 seed last year, managed to succumb to Arthur Rinderknech in the first round, in a match that stretched to two days, despite hitting 76% of his first serves – the best strike-rate in the tournament – and winning all but three of 28 service games. “Dominant but defeated,” as Wimbledon’s statbot put it.
