The return of serve is the least practised shot in our sport. Andy Murray showed the world just how wrong that is, powering to a second Wimbledon title on the back of a masterful return performance against one of the biggest servers in the game.

Murray defeated Milos Raonic 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-6(2), putting return after return back in play to ramp up pressure all over the court. It subsequently forced Raonic to press just a little too much in attempting to end the point early on his terms.

To the final, Raonic enjoyed not having to hit another shot after a serve more than having to hit one, with 51 per cent of all serves unreturned. In the final, against the suffocating defence of Murray, that number was basically chopped in half down to 26 per cent.

Free points dried up in the Sunday London sun, and rallies stretched out far longer than Raonic was comfortable with. The pressure of making returns created the amazing statistic that Raonic’s average rally length on serve actually ended up longer than Murray’s.

On Raonic’s service games to the final, his average rally length was around 2.5 shots, but that blew out to four shots in the final against Murray. The simple yet powerful effect of one more ball in play eventually took its toll.

Murray enjoyed shorter rallies than the Canadian when serving, at only 3.7 shots per point, which was also much shorter than his tournament average of 4.4 shots.

Murray seemed to thrive against the power of the Raonic serve in the final, winning a higher percentage of points against Raonic’s first serve at 33 per cent, than against the second at only 29 per cent.

Raonic’s favourite first serve patterns in both the Deuce and Ad courts was to serve out wide to open holes on the other side of the court to immediately attack.

In the Deuce court, Raonic made 17 first serves out wide, four at the body, and 15 down the middle T. In the Ad court, Raonic made 21 out wide, four at the body, and just 12 down the middle T.

Raonic made 64 per cent of his first serves in the final, which was one per cent higher than the entire tournament average of 63 per cent, but it also equalled his lowest total for the tournament.

Raonic did win a massive 71 per cent of his second serve points, which was tied equal-best with his quarter-final performance against Sam Querrey.

Raonic Serve & Volley

Raonic serve and volleyed on 45 per cent of his first serves, which was much higher the 30 per cent he employed to the final. Clearly, Raonic felt the pressure to end the point early at the front of the court much more than trying to go toe-to-toe with Murray from the back of the court. The other advantage of serve and volley was to capitalise on the constant flow of returns Murray was making, instantly attacking anything that was floating high back to his side of the court.

Raonic won 64 per cent (21/33) of his serve and volley points in the final, which was well below the 76 per cent he had won on the road to the final.

Second Fastest Serve in Tournament History

Raonic hit a 147 miles per hour bomb serving at 4-4, 30/30 in the second set – a point that Murray ultimately won. That delivery tied for the second-fastest serve hit in Wimbledon history, behind Taylor Dent’s 148 m.p.h. serve against Novak Djokovic in the 2010 second round. Raonic aimed the missile at the backhand jam location of Murray. Just like most serves, it came back in play. Raonic then hit a forehand approach to Murray’s backhand, but as Murray had done all day long, he rolled a delicate backhand passing shot cross-court for a winner, setting up break point.

Murray Baseline Control

Murray won 49 per cent (61/125) of his baseline points in the final, while Raonic struggled mightily from the back of the court, only winning 32 per cent (23/73). Too often, Raonic could not hurt Murray with his backhand slice or penetrate the Scot’s defence well enough with his run-around forehand.

To illustrate just how tough it is to gain an advantage from the back of the court, Murray finished the tournament only winning 52 per cent (394/764) of his baseline points, while Raonic was a distant 63rd in this strategic category, winning just 44 per cent.

Andy Murray’s second Wimbledon title is a lesson for every junior and aspiring professional around the world. Our sport is going through a cycle where great returning trumps great serving, and if you get good enough at it, Wimbledon glory beckons.

If there’s a week with an ATP Challenger Tour event, James Cerretani is probably playing in it.

The 34-year-old American doubles specialist has played in 40 tournaments over the past year. In 2015, he competed for an astounding 28 consecutive weeks in tournaments throughout the U.S., Asia and Europe. Cerretani has already played 23 tournaments so far this year, opening the 2016 season by playing in 10 of the first 11 weeks.

The miles he’s logged have been paying off, though. Cerretani has already won four ATP Challenger Tour doubles title this year and is now on an eight-match win streak with Philipp Oswald of Austria. The pair won this week’s $125,000 event in Braunschweig, Germany, giving Cerretani his biggest title in more than five years.

“I just have a burning passion for the game,” said Cerretani. “I’ve achieved a lot, but there are still a lot of things I haven’t achieved. I feel like I’ve even underachieved in some ways. I still want to fulfill my potential and achieve the goals I have before moving on to the next phase of my life. “

Having started the year at No. 135 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings, Cerretani will now be firmly entrenched inside the Top 100 after his win in Braunschweig. After spending several years competing primarily on the ATP World Tour, the American said the time he’s spent in Challengers has given him the experience needed to start competing in the world’s biggest events again.

“Challenger tournaments are a great opportunity to build your ranking and get matches to improve your game,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a Challenger or a Grand Slam because everyone is working hard and the level is still high.”

Having competed in more than 35 tournaments annually for most of his time on tour, Cerretani has inevitably picked up a few good stories during his time on tour. But during this year’s ATP Challenger Tour event in Jonkoping, he endured an especially painful experience.

“I told my partner he needed to hit his serve harder. The very next point, I get down at the net and he hit me in the back of my head with his serve,” laughed Cerretani. “I have to lay down on the ground when he serves now!”

Cerretani is back at it again this week, teaming up with fellow American Max Schnur as the top seeds at the $50,000 ATP Challenger Tour event in Poznan, Poland. Although his aim is to make it back into the Top 50 of the Emirates ATP Rankings, his main focus is on the journey to get there.

“There are small goals I want to achieve every day – like having a positive mindset and high morale. You want to feel like you’re moving forward with a purpose,” said Cerretani. “I think I’m playing at a very high level and happy with the commitment to the process each day, so I’m confident about the rest of the year.”

Andy Murray’s 2013 Wimbledon title meant so much to him and his family, but also to all of Great Britain. After all, it had been 77 years since a British male had won the title at The Championships. Murray’s sweep against Novak Djokovic ended the long national drought that dated back to the days of Fred Perry and Bunny Austin.

But Murray believes that his second Wimbledon title, which he claimed on Sunday by beating Milos Raonic 6-3, 7-6(3), 7-6(2), had a different feel to it.

“I feel happier this time. I feel more content this time. I feel like this was sort of more for myself more than anything, and my team as well. We’ve all worked really hard to help get me in this position,” Murray said.

Before Murray won the title in 2013, the pressure had been building for years. He had already played at Wimbledon seven times and had come within sets of winning the title, losing in the semi-finals three times and finishing as a finalist in 2012. So when Murray finally hoisted the trophy three years ago, he admitted on Sunday, “It was just pure relief, and I didn’t really enjoy the moment as much… You just get dragged in all sorts of different directions afterwards.”

The 29 year old explained to the Centre Court crowd that he planned to celebrate his second Wimbledon crown differently. “I’m going to make sure I enjoy this one more than the others,” he said. “I want to spend this time with my family and my closest friends, the people that I work with… I’ll make sure I spend a lot of time with them over the next couple of days.”

The Scot has earned the time to relax. The second seed lost only two sets en route to his third Grand Slam championship (also 2012 US Open, 2013 Wimbledon). Against Raonic in the final, Murray hardly let the 6’5” right-hander get into a rhythm. Murray neutralised Raonic’s biggest weapon – his serve – limiting the sixth seed to eight aces – 15 below his Wimbledon average. The Brit also won 32 per cent of his return points.

“I practise my returns a lot. It didn’t sort of just happen by chance,” Murray said. “I practise it for 30 minutes every day. A lot of players hit loads of tennis balls, and maybe at the end of practice they serve a little bit and return a little bit. Sometimes those two shots get left out. But they’re the most important shots in the game, so I practise them a lot.”

Murray also has improved his serve, which was evident against Raonic and throughout his second Wimbledon run. Murray won 77 per cent of his service points in the final and ended the fortnight having held for 29 consecutive games, dating back to his semi-final contest against Tomas Berdych.

“I got a lot of free points from my serve. My second serve has been good the past few weeks, as well. Again, that allows you to go for a little bit more on your first serve and be a little bit more relaxed,” Murray said.

With three Grand Slam championship titles, Murray is hardly ready to relax, though. He’s determined to remain among the best on the ATP World Tour. “I still feel like my best tennis is ahead of me, that I have an opportunity to win more,” Murray said. “Everyone’s time comes at different stages. Some come in their early 20s, some mid-20s. Hopefully mine is still to come.”

Murray, who is currently No. 2 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, is now 3-8 overall in Grand Slam championship finals. He has lifted 38 tour-level trophies during his career.

Henri Kontinen of Finland and Heather Watson of Great Britain both won their first Grand Slam in the mixed doubles final on Sunday at Wimbledon, edging No. 15 seeds Robert Farah of Colombia and Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany, 7-6(5), 6-4.

“This is the tournament that every player has on their mind. The prestige, the history here, it’s pretty special. It’s a special place to win,” said Kontinen. “If we were up a break or down a break, whatever happened, we were always enjoying ourselves. To be able to do that and still win makes it extra fun.”

Kontinen became the first player from Finland to win a Grand Slam title. The last British player to win the mixed doubles title at Wimbledon was Jamie Murray (w/Jelena Jankovic) in 2007. 

Both teams held serve throughout the first set to force a tie-break. Kontinen/Watson raced to a 5/0 lead, but Farah/Groenefeld clawed their way back to 5/5. A missed volley from Groenefeld gave Kontinen/Watson set point at 6/5 and Watson converted on her serve to give her team the opening set.

A double fault on break point from Gronefeld gave Kontinen/Watson the first break of the match to lead 4-3. The small advantage was all they needed as Kontinen closed out the match on his first try and the pair hugged in celebration.