Serena Williams’ former coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, has seen it all.
The Frenchman has won 10 Grand Slam titles as a coach and guided the likes of Williams, Holger Rune, and Naomi Osaka to success on tour.
Today, he runs the Mouratoglou Academy and is the face of Ultimate Tennis Showdown.
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Taking a break from his busy schedule, Mouratoglou took to Instagram to name the greatest serve-and-volley player of all time.
Patrick Mouratoglou says Pat Rafter had the greatest serve-and-volley of all time
“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.
Pat Rafter compared to other tennis greats
| Player | Country | Grand Slams | Weeks at number one | ATP Titles |
| Pete Sampras | USA | 14 | 286 | 64 |
| Andre Agassi | USA | 8 | 101 | 60 |
| Lleyton Hewitt | Australia | 2 | 80 | 30 |
| Marat Safin | Russia | 2 | 9 | 15 |
| Yevgeny Kafelnikov | Russia | 2 | 6 | 26 |
| Pat Rafter | Australia | 2 | 1 | 11 |
| Goran Ivanisevic | Croatia | 1 | – | 22 |
“I like the complete package.
“The person, the look, and the game was incredible.”
Mouratoglou continued, making an interesting comparison between Rafter and boxing legend Mike Tyson.
“He was my hero,” said Mouratoglou.
“When Mike Tyson was at the top, everybody was waking up in the middle of the night to watch Mike Tyson’s match.
“I felt the same with Pat Rafter.”
Rafter was technically at the ‘top’ for one week, in July 1999, but enjoyed a spell of success on the ATP Tour from 1997 to 2001.
Pat Rafter’s Grand Slam results (1997-2001)
| Grand Slam | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 |
| Australian Open | 1R | 3R | 3R | – | SF |
| French Open | SF | 2R | 3R | 2R | 1R |
| Wimbledon | 4R | 4R | SF | F | F |
| US Open | W | W | 1R | 1R | 4R |
The Aussie won two US Open titles and reached a further two Grand Slam finals, at Wimbledon in 2000 and 2001.
Injuries brought his career to an early end, though, as Rafter officially retired in 2003, having last played a professional match at the 2001 Davis Cup.
Why don’t players serve-and-volley anymore?
Players still serve-and-volley, but it’s used much more sparingly than it was 15-20 years ago.
Why?
Well, the simple answer is that it is now easier to hit passing shots than it is to finish shots at the net.
That’s partly due to the slower court surfaces and increased power in the modern game.
Therefore, rushing to the net point after point isn’t nearly as reliable a tactic as hitting from the baseline.
Today, it’s rare to see a player base their entire game around the serve-and-volley, although there is one exception.
Maxime Cressy found success with the serve-and-volley in 2022 and 2023, winning an ATP title and breaking into the world’s top 40.
He was so confident in his tactics that he even claimed he could reach world number one during an interview with the ATP Tour in 2022.
“Regardless of the ups and downs, my ranking has just skyrocketed really fast in the past two years,” he said.
“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.”
Unfortunately for Cressy, his serve-and-volley success was short-lived, and he announced his hiatus from tennis last summer.
The American never quite managed to bring serve-and-volley back, even if he did give it a good go.
