Tennis strategy

Players use different tennis strategies to enhance their own strengths and exploit their opponent's weaknesses in order to gain the advantage and win more points.

Players typically specialize or naturally play in a certain way, based on what they can do best. Based on their style, players generally fit into one of three types: baseliners, volleyers and all-court players. Many players have attributes of all three categories but may focus on one style based on the surface or their opponent. A baseliner plays from the back of the tennis court, around the baseline, preferring to trade groundstrokes rather than to come up to the net (except in certain situations). A volleyer tries to approach the net and hit volleys, putting pressure on the opponent. All-court players fall somewhere in between.

A player's weaknesses may also determine strategy. For example, most players have a stronger forehand, therefore they will favor the forehand even to the point of "running around" a backhand to hit a forehand.

At high levels of play, being an offensive baseliner requires consistently hitting deep shots, which land several feet back from the service line. The offensive baseliner may not try to win the point outright with one shot, but instead may hit the ball from side to side until he/she spots an opening. Offensive baseliners normally have at least one great groundstroke, forehand or backhand. The best offensive baseliners have a powerful and effective serve to go with a great groundstroke. Usually offensive baseliners (as well as defensive players) have the ability to anticipate the next shot very well and also their opponents' styles and tendencies.

An effective offensive baseliner can overpower many opponents. However, when going for winners, they can also produce many errors since they have to repeatedly and correctly execute some difficult strokes, such as down-the-line winners landing near the corner. Fatigue, loss of focus, mis-hitting the ball, and hesitating are some reasons for errors. Two great old-time players, R. Norris Williams and Ellsworth Vines, were famous for being unbeatable when their strokes were "on". However, they played with such little margin for error in making their strokes that when they were making more mistakes they could be beaten by other players. Another advantage of this strategy is that the player can weaken his opponent's confidence by successfully landing difficult shots which in turn may increase his own confidence.

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Wikipedia