So when was the last time you watched a professional tennis match where the players served and volleyed? No, I am not talking about doubles tennis. It is true that serve and volley as a technique has all but disappeared along with the sliced return of serve.
A recent article, written by Kevin Darling for CNN, appropriately titled “Death of a tennis art: Is this the end for serve and volley?” takes a look at some of the reasons for this dying style of play. Some of the reasons cited for this shift include slower courts, heavier balls, high-tech racquets, and a general desire among tennis organizing bodies to lengthen rallies to attract viewership.
Irrespective of the reasons for the evolution of the game, I would argue that serve and volley players definitely need more speed, precision, and creativity to put pressure on their opponents. Sort of a beat-me-if-you-can bravado, as they rush the net challenging their opponents to pass them!
It is debatable whether the best tennis that you can watch, is between a base-line player and a serve and volley player, or between two base-line players. Or better still, between two serve-and-volley players as shown below!
Now, if you have been watching professional squash, you will agree that the game is evolving in its own way.
Serve and volley of a different sort is happening in squash! Almost every serve is volleyed back by the receiving player, ensuring that the server has less time to react. Gone are the days when the best players consistently played length waiting for the loose ball that they could put away.
The Egyptians continue to dominate the PSA rankings and have definitely left their mark in the game. Volleys and half-volleys have become the norm, with more of the game now being played in the mid and fore-court. The embedded video below will give you an idea of how professional squash players are using the volley return of serve to their advantage.
So what do you think? Do you think that we will ever see the likes of Boris Becker, Richard Krajicek, Stefan Edberg, and Pete Sampras ever dominate tennis again?
I really enjoyed your article! In fact, I decided to research and watch additional vintage footage to confirm if my childhood tennis memories were accurate!
When learning the game, young players often adopt a style of play, rackets, strings and shoes based on their favorite players and top 10 players of the moment. Nowadays, there are practically no more of such players, so it is only normal that we most likely won’t see it anytime soon.
My recollections are vivid! I grew up watching many different players with distinctive styles. I started to play at 8, in 1979 and beautiful players to watch in the 80s and 90s were McEnroe, Borg, Lendl, Connors, Gerulaitis, Amritraj, Pecci, Noah, Edberg, Krajicek, Ivanosovic, Pat Cash, Wilander, Becker, Agassi, Sampras and more! Thanks to You Tube, I can confirm that Noah and Pecci served and volleyed on clay at the French and Borg occasionally came in on first serve at Wimbledon in 1980 vs McEnroe! I also saw a lot of “chip and charge”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmfKbggEt5s
I agree with Lendl’s comments: “So to come to the net and be fishing for that ball when the guy takes a full swing and it has 8,000 rpm on that ball … it becomes very, very difficult to volley and put away.” I would add that it is especially difficult when the ball is low in the shoe laces and the quality of the returns today.
In addition, many top single players used to play singles and doubles, which helped to develop a solid net game and master the “split step” require to push-off into a two-step volley. In College at UNLV, I was very fortunate to have Larry Easley as a coach, who developed Pete Sampras’ volleys and attacking-style movement and the two-step volley. The game and ATP schedule is too physical and demanding now, which makes it virtually impossible to dominate in singles and doubles.
https://www.tennisplayer.net/public/tour_strokes/pete_sampras_two-step_volley/pete_sampras_two-step_volley_samplearticle.html
Sampras claims, serve and volley is dead. For now, I agree. Who knows? The game keeps on changing; after all, Federer brought back an “improved version” of the drop shot. I call it the inside-out corkscrew drop shot and more and more players are using it. Perhaps 5 to 10 years from now, someone will master the art of serve and volley again!
Thanks for your feedback and insights. As someone who has played at a level higher than most of us it is great to see you taking the time. If you are ok with it, I would like to add this as a future blog post with some minor edits.
Yes for sure Dax, go ahead!
It seems to be the normal ebb and flow of the game as the pendulum swings, a bit too far for my liking, towards making the game more entertaining to watch – court surfaces have slowed, and the athletes are quicker and stronger – couple these with a racquet surface area the size of a wok, and running to the net in the hope of pressuring your opponent into making a superb passing shot is suddenly much more of a long shot. The slower ball speed robs the rusher of the critical few milliseconds to make it worth the while. Good thing that the shaking of hands at the end of a match is still done at the net….otherwise, the planting of vegetables in that court area should be considered in earnest.
Dax:
Nicely written. I’m not an avid tennis player. I like to watch the game but I didnt realize the nuances of the “style of game” evolving until I read your blog. I do agree in hindsight that that is true. I guess this is an adaptation that every sport goes through to fit with customer expectations, viz. the fans. Fans like to be entertained and pay for it and this is being noticed by “the entire sports value chain” and are clearly changing racket technology, ball technology, court development etc to cater to that very need!
It didnt matter a few decade back I guess when the “Fan” was drawn towards the sport by interest or through association. I am not suggesting this has changed in any way. This still holds true today, but what has changed is that the world of entertainment goes after a wider audience (like me, that may not necessarily play the game), vying for their time.
It is natural that, as a peripheral fan, you pick the “mode of entertainment” that provides you the best bang for the buck and viola, everything starts coming to you!
Good point! At the end of the day it is all about the audience. If the changes help grow it beyond the hardcore tennis-enthusiasts, it has worked. Not unlike Cricket Twenty20…