The servebots need a new trick to click

Super servers

- Rutvick Mehta

MUMBAI: There was a deafening thud. Then a deft touch. The thud fetched a collective awe. The touch earned the point.

This is the story of a 6'8" giant throwing down the gauntlet in the form of the fastest serve ever recorded in Wimbledon history, and yet, losing the point. This is also the story of modern-day tennis, across gender, where possessing a powerful serve alone may not hand you the match on a platter.

In the opening game of his first-round match against Taylor Fritz, Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard smoked a 153mph shot off his racquet that might as well have been a bazooka. It broke the record for the fastest serve recorded in Wimbledon history, comfortably going past Taylor Dent's previous mark of 148mph set in 2010. It was eye-popping. What happened after that, though, was more business as usual.