Patrick Mouratoglou has worked with some of the game’s biggest names and seen every style come through his academy.
He’s collected 10 Grand Slam titles as a coach, working with stars such as Williams, Holger Rune and Naomi Osaka.
He now runs the Mouratoglou Academy and is also involved with Ultimate Tennis Showdown.
Despite his busy schedule, Mouratoglou took to Instagram to name who he believes is the greatest serve-and-volley player of all time.
Patrick Mouratoglou names Pat Rafter as the best serve-and-volley player in history
“If you ask me about underrated legends, the first name that comes to my mind is Pat Rafter,” he said.
“I think he deserves to be remembered, because to me, he’s the best serve-and-volley player of all time.
“At the net… animal!
“Anticipating, jumping, hitting incredible volleys, this animality that Pat Rafter had, it was something I really loved.
“He was number one in the world at a time when Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Goran Ivanisevic, Lleyton Hewitt, [Yevgeny] Kafelnikov and [Marat] Safin were playing.
Rafter spent just one week atop of the ATP rankings but held his own throughout a period dominated by some of the sport’s most famous names.
Mouratoglou went on to say he admired not just how Rafter played but also how he carried himself off court.
He drew an interesting parallel between Rafter and another icon from a different sport: Mike Tyson.
He made two more major finals at Wimbledon in 2000 and 2001 before retiring due to injury in 2003. His final professional match came during the Davis Cup back in 2001.
Why the serve-and-volley game is so rare now
While serve-and-volley hasn’t disappeared entirely, it’s used far less often than it was two decades ago.
The main reason is simple: hitting passing shots has become easier than finishing points at the net. This shift is down to slower court surfaces and greater power in the modern game.
Those changes have made charging forward less effective, so players now rely more on baseline play to dictate rallies. These days, you don’t see anyone building their entire approach around coming forward – though there are exceptions.
Maxime Cressy had a spell of success using this style in 2022 and 2023, picking up an ATP title and breaking into the top 40. He believed strongly in his approach, telling the ATP Tour in 2022:
“Regardless of the ups and downs, my ranking has just skyrocketed really fast in the past two years. Being just outside the top 30 that quickly is a huge indication that I have what it takes to be world number one. I don’t think that belief is ever going to change.”
Cressy’s run didn’t last long, though, as he stepped away from tennis last summer after struggling to maintain his form. Even so, his efforts to revive serve-and-volley gave fans something different to watch for a while.
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