Effect of conditions on serve

Just seen a great stat on TSN; a Murray serve timed at 134mph has slowed by the time it reaches Ferrer to 56mph!!!

Basically, the serve it neutered in these damp conditions. No wonder Federer was saying to Cahill, McEnroe and Gilbert that it was tough to get points for good serves.

Once the ball bounces it has air friction and gravity against it. Even at Wimbledon I think you would see a similar speed. Yes the clay slow it more, especially when damp like it currently is, but I bet even at Wimbledon the 56mph would be 65mph.

Although: that small difference could be quite critical.

Balls get stuck in the mud.

Was it damp today?

Unless the rain stopped short of the court or it rained out of low humidity, yes.

I didnt see the match so dont know if it rained.

But its more than just that BB...Murray's average 2nd serve was a fair bit slower than 5'9' Ferrer's. Something like 140kph. Yep - 140kph!!!

Kvitova, Sharapova, and Kanepi had average 2nd serve speeds higher than that! (145, 147, 145 respectively)

He shouted to his box "I'm not winning anything on my 2nd serve!!!"...no s**t sherlock! Forget clay, forget rain, forget serves slowing down...its that liability called a 2nd serve thats killing him! Its a dolly drop I'm afraid and the top players love to tee-off on it.

If that's true, an average second serve speed of 140kph is pretty embarrassing. That suggests that a fair number of his second serves were venturing into the 60mph range - I'm pretty sure even I could put away a serve that slow for a winner.

That's true Lydian, abd if they low from 134mph to 56mph, imagine what a 80mph dolly is doing by the time it - just about - reaches the opponent?

Yeah exactly...its probably down to around 40mph sometimes.
Its just sat there begging to be smacked. Its not like it has a load of "work" on it either.
Given he screamed out about it today, it must clearly be undermining his confidence. He needs to serve 1000s of balls.
As mentioned elsewhere part of the issue is the way he serves...too far to the left and over his head...I;m not surprised he has back issues.

I'd say the courts have been damp for a while now and likely to stay that way until tournament end.