How to hit a reliable second serve under pressure

Hit the second serve with intent. Make them beat you.

Key facts

1
Top-50 men win about 73.6 % of points behind a made first serve and about 57.5 % behind a second serve.
Kokta, "A deeper dive into second serve statistics"
2
Roughly 90 % of second serves go in on tour, so the second serves that land, not the double faults, are the ones that decide matches.
3
Novak Djokovic led the ATP tour in 2023, winning 57.9 % of his second-serve points.
ATP, Beyond the Numbers (November 2023)
4
On the other side of the net, returners top out around 55 % of second-serve return points won.
ATP, Beyond the Numbers (January 2026)

Why it works

The kick owns the second serve. Its topspin pulls the ball down, so it can clear the net by a lot and still land in. After the bounce, the ball climbs toward the returner's shoulder.

Slowing the arm to be safe removes the brush that makes that margin. You get a slower ball with less clearance, and a returner stepping in. If your arm slows down, the serve got worse, not safer.

There are two risks on one dial. Push the serve and it becomes easy to attack. Flatten it and double faults climb. The sweet spot sits between, and under pressure the disciplined choice is the serve you've hit ten thousand times, to the body or your proven spot.

The line to say on court
“Second serve: same swing, more brush, one spot.”

Drill: 21 serves

15 min · alone or with a partner

Hit a first serve at full first-serve intent. Score two points if it's in.
If you miss, hit a second serve with full brush and high net clearance. Score one point if it's in, zero for a double fault.
Race to 21. Log your double faults and where your second serves landed.

Number to beat9 of 10 second serves in at full brush

Faults and fixes

Arm slows under pressure

You read "safe" as "slow".

FixThe brush is the margin. Keep the brush speed, even if the ball goes slower.

Kick toss drifts in front

Your first-serve toss leaks into the second.

FixToss over your head for the second serve.

Aiming for the line on a big point

You're trying to end the point instead of starting it.

FixServe to the body or your proven spot.

Different motion on the second serve

The returner reads the change.

FixUse one motion for every serve you hit.

Questions players ask

Should I hit my second serve slower?

No. Slowing the arm removes the brush that gives you margin, so you get a slower ball with less clearance. Keep the swing and add spin.

Where should I aim my second serve on break point?

Go with your usual serve, full brush, to the body or your proven target. Big points reward the rehearsed pattern, not the improvised one.

What percentage of second serve points do pros win?

Top-50 men win about 57.5 %. Djokovic led the tour in 2023 at 57.9 %.

Why is a kick serve good as a second serve?

Its topspin pulls the ball down, so you can clear the net by a wide margin and still land in, and it bounces up high toward the returner's shoulder.

What this doesn't cover

The double-fault figures in circulation use different denominators, so don't compare them directly. The trade-off between double-fault risk and attackability is a stylised model, not measured curves. There's a published argument that pros are too conservative on second serves. It hasn't been evaluated here.

Sources

Kokta, "A deeper dive into second serve statistics", The Sports Scientist
ATP, Beyond the Numbers (November 2023 and January 2026)
Heavy Topspin, "The cost of a double fault"
FiveThirtyEight, on why players don't take more risks on second serves
Tennis Warehouse University, kick serve

Serve and returnHow to hit flat, slice and kick servesYou hit flat, slice and kick serves from the same motion by changing where the strings brush the ball. Flat goes through it from 6 to 12 on a clock face, slice brushes around the outside, and kick brushes up and across from 7 to 1. The kick is mostly sidespin, and it isn't a slow serve. It's a different bounce.Serve and returnHow to toss the ball for a tennis serveToss from a straight, locked arm, release at eye level, and send the ball to the same spot every time. For a right-hander, the flat serve's toss sits slightly in front and to the right, slice further right, kick further over the head. The toss sets contact height, spin and placement before you swing, so fix a wobbly serve at the hand first.Serve and returnHow to disguise your serve and hit the T, body and wideTo disguise your serve, hit the T, the body and wide from the same toss and the same motion. Skilled returners read the toss and the racquet face to predict direction about 300 ms before contact, so any change there is a tell. Disguise isn't a trick motion. It's sameness, so the returner learns nothing before the ball is struck.MindHow to play big points in tennisPlay big points by taking less risk, not more. The score tells you which points matter: break points, set points, tiebreak points and 15–30. On those, serve to the body or a proven target, hit into the bigger part of the court and run a pattern you've rehearsed. By one estimate, an average tour break point swings match-win probability by about ten percentage points.