Serve and volley is a style of play in tennis where the player serving moves quickly towards the net after hitting a serve. Tennis is a sport played between two players ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles) The server then attempts to hit a volley (a shot where the ball is struck without allowing it to bounce), as opposed to the baseline style, where the server would stay back following the serve and attempt to hit a groundstroke (a shot where the ball is allowed to bounce before contact is made).
The aim of this strategy is to put immediate pressure on the opponent, so that good returns must be made, or else the server can gain advantage. This tactic is especially useful on fast courts (e. A tennis court is where the game of Tennis is played It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the center g. grass courts) and less so on slow courts (e. g. clay courts). For it to be successful, the player must either have a good serve or be exceptionally quick in movement around the net. Ken Rosewall, for instance, had a very feeble serve but was a very successful serve-and-volley player for two decades. Kenneth Robert ("Ken" Rosewall AM MBE (born 2 November 1934, in Sydney, Australia) is a former amateur Goran Ivanišević, on the other hand, had success with serve-and-volley strategy with great serves and average volleys. Goran Šimun Ivanišević ( ɡǒran iʋanǐːʃɛʋiʨ born in Split, Croatia, Yugoslavia on September 13 1971 is a former professional Tennis
Great tennis players known for their serve-and-volley technique include Jack Kramer, Pancho Gonzales, Frank Sedgman, Rod Laver, John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg, Pete Sampras, Patrick Rafter, Tim Henman and Martina Navratilova. John Albert Kramer (born August 1, 1921, in Las Vegas, Nevada) was a champion U Ricardo Alonso González or Richard Gonzalez, (May 9 1928 &ndash July 3 1995 who was generally known as Pancho Gonzales or less often as Pancho Gonzalez Frank Arthur Sedgman, born 29 October 1927 in Mont Albert a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia was a Tennis player For the arena in Melbourne Park used for show matches in the Australian Open, see Rod Laver Arena Rodney George "Rod" Laver John Patrick McEnroe Jr (born February 16 1959 is an American former World No Boris Franz Becker (born 22 November 1967 in Leimen, West Germany) is a former World No Stefan Bengt Edberg (born 19 January 1966 in Västervik, Sweden) is a former World No Petros “Pete” Sampras (born August 12, 1971) is a former World No Patrick "Pat" Michael Rafter (born 28 December 1972 is a retired Australian former World No Timothy Henry "Tim" Henman OBE (born 6 September 1974) is a retired English Tennis player Martina Navratilova ( Czech: Martina Navrátilová; born October 18, 1956, in Prague, Czechoslovakia) is a former World Although earlier tennis greats such as Bill Tilden, Ellsworth Vines, and Don Budge had been noted for their fine serves and net games, they had not consistently played a serve-and-volley game on every point. William Tatem Tilden II ( February 10, 1893 &ndash June 5, 1953) often called "Big Bill", was an American Henry Ellsworth Vines Jr (September 28 1911 – March 17 1994 was an American Tennis champion of the 1930s the World No John Donald ("Don" or "Donnie" Budge ( June 13 1915 &ndash January 26 2000) was an American Tennis Jack Kramer in the late 1940s was the first world-class player to consistently come to the net after every serve, including his second serve. Kramer writes, however, in his 1979 autobiography, that it was Bobby Riggs, his opponent in the 1948 Pro tennis tour who began the strategy: "When we first started touring he came at me on his first serve, on his second serve, and on my second serve. Robert Larimore ("Bobby" Riggs ( February 25, 1918 &ndash October 25, 1995) was a 1930s&ndash40s . . . my second serve didn't kick like Bobby's, so he could return that deep enough and follow into the net. . . . It forced me to think attack constantly. I would rush in and try to pound his weakest point -- his backhand. So the style I am famous for was not consciously planned: it was created out of the necessity of dealing with Bobby Riggs. "
In the mid-1950s, when Pancho Gonzales was dominating professional tennis with his serve-and-volley game, occasional brief attempts were made to partially negate the power of his serve. This, it was felt, would lead to longer rallies and more spectator interest. At least three times the rules were modified:
- In several important tournaments such as the United States Professional Championships the Van Alen Streamlined Scoring System (VASSS), devised by James Van Alen, was used. Before the beginning of the Open era in 1968 only amateurs were allowed to compete in mainstream Tennis tournaments including the four Grand Slams However some top James Henry Van Alen (September 19 1902 &ndash July 3 1991 is best known for being the founder of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, the largest tennis museum in the The match was scored as if in table tennis, with 21 points per game, 5 serves per player, and no second serves. The fans preferred the traditional scoring system, however, and in any case Gonzales continued to win under VASSS rules.
- Jack Kramer, by then the professional tour promoter and no longer its dominant player, also tried a three-bounce rule, in which the server could not come to the net until the ball had been in play for at least three bounces. Gonzales won anyway, and this experiment was dropped.
- Kramer also tried marking a secondary service line one yard behind the main one, so that the server was further away from the net when he served. Once again Gonzales was undeterred and the original rules were restored.
Serve-and-volley strategy is less common amongst female players. Martina Navrátilová is an outstanding practitioner of it, while in more recent times serve-and-volleyer Jana Novotná won Wimbledon, beating Nathalie Tauziat, another serve-and-volleyer, in the final. Martina Navratilova ( Czech: Martina Navrátilová; born October 18, 1956, in Prague, Czechoslovakia) is a former World Jana Novotna (Jana Novotná (b October 2 1968 in Brno, Czechoslovakia) is a former professional Tennis player from the Czech Republic Nathalie Tauziat (born October 17 1967 in Bangui, Central African Republic) is a former professional tennis player from France
Although in recent years the strategy has become less common, a few players still prefer to come in on (almost) every serve. Notable examples are Tim Henman, Jonas Björkman, Max Mirnyi, Taylor Dent, Radek Štěpánek, and Ivo Karlović. Timothy Henry "Tim" Henman OBE (born 6 September 1974) is a retired English Tennis player Jonas Lars Björkman (pronounced YO-nas BYERK-mann (born March 23 1972 Alvesta, Sweden is a Swedish professional male tennis player and former World No Max Mirnyi (Максім Мірны Maksim Mirny; born July 6, 1977, in Minsk) is a professional Tennis player from Belarus Taylor Phillip Dent (born April 24 1981) is a Tennis player from the United States. Radek Štěpánek (born November 27, 1978 in Karviná) is a professional Tennis player from the Czech Republic. Ivo Karlović (born 28 February, 1979 in Zagreb) is a Croatian Tennis player Many other players employ the strategy depending on the court surface, such as Roger Federer at Wimbledon. Roger Federer (ˈrɒdʒə ˈfɛdərər born August 8 1981 is a Swiss professional Tennis player who is currently ranked World No The Championships Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon, is the oldest Tennis tournament in the world and is widely considered as the most prestigious Even Pete Sampras, known for his great serve and volley game, did not always come to the net behind the serve on slower courts, particularly on the second serve.
Views on the serve and volley
Bill Tilden, the dominant player of the 1920s and one of the fathers of the cannonball serve, nevertheless preferred to play from the backcourt and liked nothing better than to face an opponent who threw powerful serves and ground strokes at him and who rushed the net -- one way or another Tilden would find a way to hit the ball past him. William Tatem Tilden II ( February 10, 1893 &ndash June 5, 1953) often called "Big Bill", was an American Tilden may also have spent more time analyzing the game of tennis than anyone before or since. His book Match Play and the Spin of the Ball is still in print and is the definitive work on the subject. In it, Tilden propounds the theory that by definition a great baseline player will always beat a great serve-and-volleyer; his returns of service will, by definition, be impossible to hit for winning volleys. Certainly the theory worked for Tilden for many years; and some of the best matches of all time have pitted great baseliners such as Björn Borg or Andre Agassi against great serve-and-volleyers such as John McEnroe or Pete Sampras. (bjœɳ bɔrj born 6 June 1956) is a former World No 1 Tennis player from Sweden who is widely regarded by observers and tennis players Andre Kirk Agassi (born April 29 1970 is a former World No 1 professional American Tennis player who won eight Grand Slam singles tournaments John Patrick McEnroe Jr (born February 16 1959 is an American former World No Petros “Pete” Sampras (born August 12, 1971) is a former World No
Another factor of the serve-and-volley game is that it is less tiring than playing constantly from the backcourt. Kramer says in his autobiography that he and Pancho Segura once tried playing three matches in which they allowed the ball to bounce three times before either could approach the net. Pancho Segura, born Francisco Olegario Segura ( June 20, 1921, known as "Segoo") was a leading "I don't believe I could have played tennis the way Segoo and I did for the three nights because it wore me out, running down all those groundstrokes. It was much more gruelling than putting a lot into a serve and following it in. " He goes on to say that "Rosewall was a backcourt player when he came into the pros, but he learned very quickly how to play the net. Kenneth Robert ("Ken" Rosewall AM MBE (born 2 November 1934, in Sydney, Australia) is a former amateur Eventually, for that matter, he became a master of it, as much out of physical preservation as for any other reason. I guarantee you that Kenny wouldn't have lasted into his forties as a world-class player if he hadn't learned to serve and volley. "
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