As Dina Hegab locked her knees, she tossed the ball to its maximum height — higher than she did before. As it descended, the ball brushed the strings of her racket. The next thing her serve hit was the net’s mesh.

It was late in her doubles match against North Carolina State on March 31, and Hegab’s serve was off, but for her, that was OK. The senior wanted to try something new — a two-week-old approach to the serve that held her back all season.

Throughout her final season for Syracuse, Hegab has focused on making small changes to all aspects of her serve. It started with reading and returning opponents’ serves better and transitioned to capitalizing off her own. Hegab committed to tweaks in her serve that would cut down on faults and only had one in last Friday’s win against Pittsburgh. Her new serve technique has come to fruition in her last two matches — both singles wins — for No. 31 Syracuse (12-9, 5-7 Atlantic Coast), and has created a new aspect to her game for her professional aspirations.

“I’m not ready to stop playing yet, I feel like I’m still improving and have a lot of potential,” Hegab said. “I’m not planning on stopping anytime soon.”

In mid-December, Hegab met in head coach Younes Limam’s office with assistant coaches Shelley George and Len Lopoo. Hegab’s last semester of eligibility neared, and as the four met to discuss what she could improve, they agreed Hegab had to “refine” her serve.

Before serves, though, it started with returns. Hegab needed to line up and execute return patterns that set up her strength — the forehand.  The first matches during which that change flourished were against Michigan and Purdue in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Kick-Off Weekend, Hegab said. She clinched both with three-set wins, and used her “comfort zone” to exploit Alyvia Jones and Alex Sabe’s weaknesses. The two couldn’t return Hegab’s forehand when the senior played the points properly.

Now that Hegab knew how to exploit serves, she needed to play off hers. Too many times, Hegab’s toss brought her forward and disrupted her balance, resulting in serves that either missed the service box or went into the net.

“Sometimes in a match … you’re not feeling your serve, and you have to fake it until you make it,” Limam said.

Hegab knew that wasn’t a blueprint for long-term success. She might get away with an inconsistent serve for now, but needed to plan for tennis after SU — something she expects on pursuing, she said.

Hegab began to bend her left elbow more when she tossed the ball instead. She extended her right arm further and met the ball at its highest point. The ball remained closer to her body and didn’t pull her momentum forward. With her weight held back, Hegab could follow through completely on the serve with her wrists.

“It gave me the chance to control the court better in the point,” Hegab said. “And be offensive instead of defensive.”

As Hegab approaches the end of her eligibility, she reached out to the coaches about the next step. She still needs to take classes next semester, but can’t play with the team, so Limam told her she could practice alongside the team next year with Lopoo volunteering to play simulated matches. Eventually, she’ll need to find tournaments to play in, Hegab said. When she does, she’ll utilize the serve she’s spent the last four months working on.

“It’s just kind of fine-tuning it so she can get it back to where it needs to be,” George said.

It took a combination of Limam, George and Lopoo to fix Hegab’s serve. They advised her to not finish the serve if she didn’t have a good toss because she could always reset.

As Hegab served for the first set against Pittsburgh, the match Limam called her “best” since making the change, the senior swung her left arm up. Reaching its maximum height, Hegab locked her knees to follow through, but the toss was too far away for her. Two weeks ago, she would’ve still served it, anyway. Instead, she let the ball bounce in front of her. Reset.

Hegab had spent the bulk of her season retooling her serve. There was no rush this time, eventually she’d get it over the net.

Published on April 10, 2019 at 11:04 pm

Contact Andrew: arcrane@syr.edu | @CraneAndrew