Tennis
Unbelievable precision: Tennis pro hits bullseye on a tiny coin!
Stefanos Tsitsipas shows off his exceptional skills in a fun challenge and demonstrates why he's one of the best tennis players in the world.
In a viral video putting his serving abilities to the test, Tsitsipas showed he's one of a kind by hitting progressively smaller and tougher targets with his serve: an exercise ball, a normal-sized basketball, a tiny basketball, a ping-pong ball and, finally, a coin – a target so small it isn't even fully visible from across the net. Tsitsipas seems to have no trouble at all achieving a feat with a degree of difficulty so high that it would take hours to complete for most players.
Stefanos Tsitsipas's ingredients to hit the perfect serve
Physical capabilities and athleticism are decisive factors at the elite level in any professional sport and tennis is no different. To stand out among the best in the world, it's essential to be in top shape, with skills like speed, endurance, explosiveness and rapid reflexes as some of the key areas of focus to thrive as a tennis pro.
Tsitsipas says the toss is vital to his serving success
© Mirja Geh/Red Bull Content Pool
When serving, my rhythm is very important, but the most important part is the toss. If I'm able to repeatedly get a good toss, then I'll ikely hit a good serve
Tsitsipas’s height (1.93m) and large wingspan allow him to hit the ball from a very high point, which gives extra momentum and power to his serve. His lean physique also provides him with extraordinary coordination and ability to speed up his movements to catch his rivals off guard.
More about Stefanos Tsitsipas
However, physical conditioning isn't the main key to Tsitsipas's immensely powerful and remarkably elegant serve stroke. His main advantage lies in technical components, starting from one of the most overlooked parts of the serving motion: the toss.
"When serving, my rhythm is very important, but the most important part is the toss. If I'm able to repeatedly get a good toss, then I'll most likely hit a good serve and hope for the elegance," he says.
There is also a mix of tangible and intangible components essential to the cocktail that's Tsitsipas’s serve, with wide-ranging factors that determine the way he puts the ball into play.
"How and where to serve will depend on several factors. Some being who I'm playing against, what surface I'm on and what the weather's like. But it's mainly how I'm feeling on that day," he explains.
Tsitsipas's serve is one of the very best in the game
© Oriol Castello/Red Bull Content Pool
Stefanos Tsitsipas's incredible serving speed and numbers
That combination of athletic and technical abilities make Tsitsipas's serve remarkable, even among the best tennis pros in the world. The ATP’s official ranking of best servers, based on its 'Serve Rating' statistic, has Tsitsipas ranked as the eighth-best server in the world, ahead of other notable stars like Carlos Alcaraz, Andrey Rublev, Casper Ruud, and Grigor Dimitrov.
Tsitsipas is a master at capitalising on his serving skills to outperform his opponents in several categories. His fastest serve ever recorded reached a whopping speed of 222kph, while his average first serve speed stands at a ridiculous 191kph.
Those lightning-fast speeds don't necessarily mean he's prone to making errors with his serve. He's also one of the best in the world at reducing mistakes, averaging just 2.5 double faults per match. Other jaw-dropping serve figures by Tsitsipas include a 76.6 percent average of first-serve points won and a phenomenal rate of 7.1 aces per match – a statistic that surely makes his rivals second-guess themselves before asking the referee for hawkeye reviews.