It’s been said many times before that a racket seems more like a wand in the hands of the great Roger Federer. Never is the magic more pronounced than when the Swiss star steps up to deliver the most elegant yet punishing stroke you’ll see in tennis - his serve.
Describing such a stroke of magic by its mere numbers almost seems unseemly. Yet the statistics best tell the story of the manner in which the seven-time champion has made his serve the most significant weapon of this year's Championships.
Entering the last eight at Wimbledon, Federer had faced just two break points for the entire Championships, seamlessly saving both of them in the second round against Sam Querrey. He was the only quarter-finalist to have held serve in every match contested at SW19 – a remarkable feat in itself, yet not the only one of note.
The last time Federer had dropped serve was in the first round of Halle, the 33-year-old amassing an incredible 116 consecutive service holds before Gilles Simon at last broke the streak late in the second set of their quarter-final.
It wasn’t enough for the Frenchman to gain an edge - Federer smoothly recovered to win the set in his 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 progression - but Simon understandably took heart from the one standout aspect of their encounter.
It's almost impossible to get a read off Roger Federer and it's extremely annoying when you're playing against him!
"I think Roger played a great match, especially on the serve," he said.
"I had a lot of pressure because of that. From the first point in the match, he served perfect. He never gave me any occasion. The only break I did was really good. I just played a perfect game to break him. But I really felt it would be hard to break him."
Hardly a slouch in the serve department himself, Andy Roddick understands that any player who can gain an edge on the Federer serve, especially on grass, is to be commended. Talking to the BBC, Roddick explained that it’s a weapon with many nuances.
"It's not so much the pace. I hit it hard, he places it a lot better than I did,” said the American, who played and lost three Wimbledon finals to Federer.
“He's able to run his second serve to different places, a short little kick-out or a hard kick-out, a slice second serve into the body, he moves his serve around.”
There is another element, Roddick added, that adds to the most complex challenge in the men’s game.
“The thing that never gets talked about: he does it all off the same toss,” he pointed out. “It's almost impossible to get a read off Roger Federer and it's extremely annoying when you're playing against him!”
Opponents and coaches have spent countless frustrating hours trying to work it out. So too has Craig O’Shannessy, who takes careful note of the numbers as an analyst for Live at Wimbledon. The trends he has identified on the Federer serve point to the Swiss star’s remarkable confidence in his 17th Wimbledon campaign.
Hitting many of his serves wide (66 of them after the quarter-final) or to the centre of the court, Federer is constructing his points superbly, the serve a more calculated weapon than the one created by the missile-style deliveries you’ll see from the game’s big-servers.
"His main weapon, I call it serve plus one,” O’Shannessy explained. “What he does is combine the strength of the first serve with the first shot after the serve. It’s a two-pronged attack.
“When the score is more even or the points are starting, he pulls it out wide because it opens up a hole for him to attack immediately afterwards.”
The serves down the centre of the court are more likely to occur when Federer is comfortably ahead on the scoreboard.
“When you’re ahead in the score you naturally gravitate to your secondary pattern,” O’Shannessy explained.
So the opponents who think that Federer is toying with them generally aren’t mistaken, further frustration arising from the fact that it’s backed by so many other strengths.
"The serve makes the rest of his game complete. That’s where it all starts for him,” said O’Shannessy.
Federer naturally takes confidence from how well it’s all coming together.
“I got things figured out at the moment. Clearly having the extra week helped me be perfectly prepared for Wimbledon,” he said, pointing to his three-test against Philipp Kohlschreiber in the first round of Halle as his turning point on grass.
“Once I got through that one, I really was able to feel better, serve more consistent ... Especially on grass, that's what it takes.”
It’s only natural that a man who makes it looks so easy makes it sound so simple too. Still, even Federer must recognise that he is serving up something special this Wimbledon.
