After his 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-4 win, Murray explained in his post-match press conference that the decision to use the unusual shot, more commonly used by his friend and fellow tennis star Nick Kyrgios, was a tactical one. . a.
Funnily enough, Murray’s delivery of the serve wasn’t particularly accurate, with the shot too high and too long, but he won the point anyway.
“He [Duckworth] changed his return position, that’s why I did it,” Murray told reporters. “He was very close to returning. He struggled a bit on the first-serve return, so he probably stepped back two meters. As soon as I saw him step further back, I threw in the forearm service.
“Personally, I have no problem with players using it. I never did. Sure, more and more players have started returning from further, further behind the baseline to give themselves an advantage to return.
“The forearm service is a way of saying, ‘If you step back there, I might throw that in.'”
A small minority of tennis fans seem to have the unusual idea that the under-arm serve is somehow disrespectful to the opponent.
Murray disagrees.
“I don’t know why people have ever found it potentially disrespectful,” he said. “I’ve never understood that. It’s a legit way of serving. I would never use a forearm serve if someone was on the baseline because I think it’s a stupid idea because they’re going to track it down and it’s easy to get.”
“If they’re four or five meters behind the baseline, why not do that to bring them forward if they don’t feel comfortable getting back there? Tactically, it’s a smart move. Nobody’s saying it is disrespectful for someone to return from six feet, whatever, five feet behind the baseline to try to gain an advantage.
“So I didn’t use it to be disrespectful to him, but to say, ‘If you go the extra mile to give the service back to give yourself more time, I’m going to take advantage of that.'”
