MALAGA, Spain — Sara Errani stands on the baseline and takes a deep breath. She was about to hit her second serve as Italy faced match point against Poland. A place in the Billie Jean King Cup finals is at stake. Errani then does something he has done many times before: an underarm serve.
The ball went into the service box and onto the racket of Iga Swiatek, one of the two women who can claim to be the best in the world. Swiatek quickly goes for it and hits a deep return to Errani's forehand. Errani will do again what he has done many times before. In other words, she gets the ball back.
She does the same on her opponent's next shot with a backhand lob in the air. Swiatek's long forehand volley sealed Italy's place in the final for the second consecutive year.
Errani fell to the ground in relief and celebrated with his partner Jasmine Paolini, then seconds later shook hands with his defeated opponent and smiled, saying, “What have I done?”
For Errani, 37, it was another successful heist in a busy career.
On Wednesday, she won a gold medal alongside Paolini at the 2024 Paris Olympics, adding to the career Golden Grand Slam in doubles she achieved this year with her fourth Billie Jean King Cup title (three of them in the Federation). (Obtained in Cups) was added. It's been a great year for Errani. He also won the US Open mixed doubles title with fellow Italian Andrea Vavassoli. Having won her last major 10 years ago, she thought 2024 would be her last on tour.
“Last year I was going to go to the Olympics and quit tennis, but I played great in doubles and I'm really enjoying it,” she said in an interview on the WTA Tour in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The finals were held earlier this month.
By completing the doubles Golden Slam in Paris, Errani joins an elite group of just seven women. Looking back on her career, Monday's underarm serve against Swiatek feels like a defining moment for a player who uses the controversial tactic more consistently and uniquely than most. Dew.
Her story on the under serve goes to the heart of her tennis life.
The underarm serve is one of the most interesting shots in tennis, caught between the extremes of the unapologetic trick shot and the tactical masterstroke. Big servers like Nick Kyrgios can use this to take advantage of opponents who are retreating in anticipation of 140 mph rockets. There's also an element of showmanship. This is often the case with Alexander Bublik. He may be blessed with a big serve, but he's also the current player who is perhaps synonymous with the brash replacement player.
Other players use it against specific opponents. said Alexander Muller, ranked 68th in the world. The Athletic At Wimbledon, he said he specifically practiced his shot against Daniil Medvedev, who has the deepest return position in the sport.
Corentin Moutet, a master shot, started practicing his serve under his armpit after sustaining a shoulder injury. He has since incorporated them into his game, earning rave reviews at this year's French Open. He used 12 under-serves and scored nine points in his third-round victory over Sebastian Offner. He is the opposite of players like Kyrgios, who uses an underarm serve because he does not expect to win free points with his first serve. There is no drop in expectations.
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The reason Errani uses this shot will be familiar to many amateur players. Because she just doesn't trust her serve.
Errani is 5 feet 5 inches (164 cm) tall, small by modern tennis standards. Like his partner Paolini, he has fire on his serve despite being 5 feet 4 inches tall. Errani doesn't have that kind of pace, and her height contributes to a shot that has been derided as the worst serve in the sport.
It would be great if she were a little taller, she says with a smile. “I think about it many times.”
Instead of making his serve a complete albatross, Errani used ground skills, tactical nous, and the shock factor of his serve, which regularly clocks in at around 60 mph (96.5 km/h) in his speedgun, to reach the pinnacle of tennis in singles and doubles. Reached. .
She reached the singles final at Roland Garros in 2012 and was in the world's top five a year later, even though her opponents felt they had to beat her in every match. Instead, they are fooled by her incredible dexterity at the net and from the back of the court, and struggle to read and return her serves.
Sara Errani has struggled with regulation serves throughout her career (Thomas Samson/AFP via Getty Images)
Mirjana Lucic Baroni said at a press conference after losing to Errani in the fourth round of the 2014 US Open: “The ball launches very slowly, it feels like it's floating in the air.'' Errani's serve averaged 116 mph in this match.
“It was really difficult to time the ball.'' In 2024, Errani's serve became something of a meme after Daniil Medvedev failed to hit back at all during a mixed doubles match at the Paris Olympics.
Errani himself said in the post-match press conference that his approach to serving is different from other players, saying, “I'm not trying to create a winner.''
“I'm just trying to kick, slice, and change my game. You have to start where you like. So sometimes it's better not to serve fast, because the serve If you're fast, the ball will come back to you quickly.”
That certainty wasn't always there. Her serve hit its lowest point in April 2019, and she has just returned from a 10-month suspension for doping with letrozole, but the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has decided that the suspension will last from the original two months. Extended. Errani said she was “absolutely disgusted” by the length of the ban, which was caused by contamination caused by her mother, who was taking letrozole to treat breast cancer, dropping pills on the kitchen counter as she prepared meals. He said that.
At the Copa Corsanitas in Bogotá, Colombia, Errani committed 18 double faults per match in three consecutive matches (all of which she won), and in her loss to Astra Sharma in the quarterfinals, Errani committed 18 double faults per match, and in her quarterfinal loss to Astra Sharma, Errani committed 18 double faults per match. I was hit half in the armpit. Later that year, at a lower-level event in Asunción, Paraguay, Errani opted for the nuclear option, hitting in his underwear for the entire tournament. She made it to the finals, overcoming tons of social media abuse along the way.
In response, she wrote on Instagram: “In Italy, I continue to be insulted by many people, mainly regarding my serve.
“If you don't like it, write to the WTA to change the rules on serves or disqualify you for bad serves. If you just have other problems with me, write to Santa. ”
Five years later, she says her serve completely outweighed everything else.
“I couldn't compete. I was always thinking about my serve,” she says.
“My coach said, 'Let's do one tournament where we're all under and just compete.'” It wasn't panic, it was more trying to take my mind off a difficult moment. ”
Although she recovered from the yips, Elani endured an uneasy service game dream at the 2020 French Open when she lost in the second round to Kiki Bertens. Errani aborted five ball tosses, was given two violations and had just one overarm serve, one of which missed the baseline. She was acting on set and was heartbroken.
“Sometimes it's there and it can come out, but I try to deal with it,” she says of the nerves that can get her when serving.
“When I was practicing, my serve was good. But during the match, I was feeling the block, I was feeling the panic. I know it's still there. It's not like it used to be. Yo.”
Unwittingly a pioneer, Errani can laugh at the fact that the underarm serve has certainly come back into fashion on the men's side in recent years. “If that's going to be a good tactic, why not?” she laughs. In the match against Swiatek, the decision was more atmospheric.
“I just gave Jasmine some advice after her first serve, so I just felt it without thinking too much,” she said at the post-match press conference.
Errani, 37, is the most experienced player on the Italian team and, as her teammates chanted at Wednesday's celebratory press conference, she is “the brains of the team.”
Errani resembles his compatriot Jorginho. Jorginho is a Brazilian-born Italian midfielder for Arsenal who, despite not being the most physically gifted player, is extremely intelligent and sets a standard for everyone else.
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Paolini, who is No. 4 in the world in singles and a two-time Grand Slam finalist this year, always looks to Errani for guidance on the doubles court.
“She wants me to tell her what to do at every point. Even when serving, she wants me to tell her where to put the ball. And I is trying to tell me how she feels more,” Errani said.
Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini have a great partnership on the doubles court. (Robert Prange/Getty Images)
Whatever the tactics, the partnership between Errani and Paolini contributed to a golden age of Italian tennis.
On the men's side, Jannik Sinner is world No. 1 and has won two Grand Slams this year. He is part of the Italian team that defended the Davis Cup this week and is aiming for a double appearance with the winning BJK Cup group. From 2010 to 2014, Errani was one of the “Fab Four” Italian women who all reached Grand Slam finals and the world top 10 (the others were Francesca Schiavone, Roberta Vinci and Flavia). Pennetta) believes this. Her country's current top athletes are all pushing each other to greater heights.
And Errani doesn't want to leave his golden days behind just yet. “I said to Jasmine, 'I'm definitely going to do it next year, and then we'll see,'” she says.
After landing a genre-defining underarm serve against Swiatek, the crafty veteran still has one last heist left in him.
(Top photo: Fran Santiago / Getty Images for ITF)
