00:00When you talk about deadly serves in women's tennis, it's usually the fastest elite servers.
00:31But here comes Filipino pride, Alex Ayala, with a relatively slower serve, giving some of the world's top players a
00:40little bit of trouble.
00:41Alex Ayala's serve may not be the fastest or the most powerful, but it has been making headlines not just
00:47on the court, but online as well, with tennis analysts and fans breaking down the tactics behind her slow serve.
00:54Why is Alex Ayala's slow serve so tricky to return?
01:02In tennis, serve is the most important shot, according to tennis coach and professional Peevee Cruz.
01:07It is the only shot that a player can control, and it starts the point. When a player serves, it
01:15dictates what will happen to that point.
01:18Speed matters, according to coach Peevee. The average first serve speed of today's WTA players generally range from 160 to
01:27170 kilometers per hour, with the fastest serve ever recorded by a female player at 220 kilometers per hour by
01:35Georgina Garcia Perez, the 2018 Hungarian Ladies Open.
01:39With speed or pace, this is how fast the ball is going through the court.
01:47So it's very important, tactically-wise, that we use speed to, let's say, take off time from our opponent.
01:56They might hit late, or they might not even hit the ball if it's too fast.
02:00Meanwhile, the average speed of Ayala's serve is at 140 kilometers per hour, relatively slower compared to other players.
02:09In fact, on the WTA's list of fastest serves based on average speed, Ayala ranks 188th out of 198 players,
02:20according to TennisStats.com, a statistical database built by a group of sports data enthusiasts based on WTA data.
02:28And while her slow serves have drawn criticism from some analysts and fans alike, the unusual pace caught some of
02:36her top opponents by surprise.
02:41During the 2026 Wimbledon Open, World No. 5 Iga Sviantec said she was caught unprepared for Ayala's serves.
02:52World No. 3, Jessica Pegula also prepared for Ayala's slow serves before their championship match in the Mubadala DC Open.
03:02A video of Pegula asking for slow serves during training even went viral online.
03:08Coach PB observed how Ayala uses her slow serves to her advantage.
03:13Her serve is not as fast. It's not that fast, but she utilizes her serve well enough to, I would
03:21say, disrupt the rhythm, disrupt the timing of her opponent.
03:25She would serve slow, a little bit slower on the first serves, and then on crucial points, she would serve
03:33fast.
03:34So things like that. So it becomes not just a tactic during a point, but a holistic tactic during the
03:40match.
03:41So she's done that very, very well, actually, this year.
03:46WTA statistics show that Ayala wins 62.9% of her first serves and 47.6% of her second
03:55serves.
03:56According to Coach PB, Ayala's slow serve, combined with variations in spin, disrupts the opponent's rhythm, especially during first serves.
04:06Typically, first serve usually is a faster serve.
04:09There's less risk for you because you have a second serve.
04:13If you're talking about first serve and she is using off-pace, meaning she's intentionally slowing down her serve at
04:22critical moments.
04:23Her tactic there is, okay, I'm gonna disrupt the rhythm.
04:28I'm gonna give you a slower serve, more spin, right?
04:34And I'm gonna dare you to attack that serve.
04:37A variation on a player's speed, spin, and placement could effectively make it harder for the opponent to anticipate the
04:44serve.
04:46For Ayala, Coach PB believes it all boils down to her team's tactics.
04:51It's very intentional that she serves slower sometimes and then faster sometimes, right?
04:58They don't get the same ball every time.
05:00So when they're returning, they don't know where the ball is going.
05:03So even if they know the ball is going to the left side, they don't know if the ball is
05:09low, if they need to go and run and stretch for that ball, or they don't know if the ball
05:17is going through them with not much spin, but a little bit more flat.
05:22And to top things off, being a lefty or left-handed is always tricky, according to Coach PB, because most
05:29players are not used to lefty serves.
05:32Being a lefty, you can serve easily to the backhand side of your opponent.
05:39Plus, the spin that you put is the opposite of what they are used to.
05:45So the timing is harder.
05:47But a slow, lefty serve, even with a combination of spins, will not always guarantee success, especially for a rising
05:55star like Ayala, according to Coach PB.
05:58Everyone is learning how she plays.
06:01So it's not going to be easy going forward.
06:05In a match, even though you try to disrupt the rhythm, the player will be able to get used to
06:12it.
06:12So the timing of when you will speed up the serve, when you will slow down the serve, it's critical.
06:21Coach PB believes that Ayala's serve still has room for improvement in terms of speed.
06:26For a physically demanding sport like tennis, the quicker you win points, the better.
06:32If you have a slower serve, the percentage of your opponent returning it and returning it well is higher still.
06:43You need to do this every match.
06:46You need to do this every tournament and the whole year.
06:49So it's very critical for tennis players to have a good serve, okay, so that they get easy points.
06:58At the end of the day, according to Coach PB, a successful serve isn't built on speed alone, but with
07:04a good combination of spin, direction, and depth.
07:09If she can improve her serve, the pace of her serve, and the quality of her serve, being a top
07:1710 or even, I believe, even being a Grand Slam winner, right, is not outside of the imagination.
07:27Alex Ayala said she is working on a variety of shots and weapons and not relying on her serve alone.
07:38As Alex Ayala climbs up the WTA rankings after winning her first title in Washington, she is taking all the
07:45lessons from her previous matches as she prepares for the next tasks at hand.
07:49The Cincinnati Open this August ahead of the U.S. Open.
07:52I'm JP Soriano, GMA News.
07:55I'm JP Soriano.
08:10I'm JP Soriano.
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