Doubles - After the Return

From the November/December 2004 issue of TENNIS Magazine

After you hit your return of serve, you have plenty of options for your nextshot.

Your opponent has delivered his serve and you've put your return back inplay. Now what? There are three basic plays you can try, and each has itsown variations. An effective doubles player knows how to mix them up to besuccessful. Here's a rundown of what you can do:

• Volley Your opponent may choose to serve and stay back (particularly on aweak second serve), so a solid return will give you a chance to move forwardand take the net. If your opponent does serve and volley, but you hit agood, low return and you feel comfortable closing in on the net, you canvolley the next ball out of the air. You'll generally hit this first volleyfrom around the service line, so be sure to hit it with some authority, orat least try to keep it low so your opponents have to volley up.

• Ground Stroke If you prefer to stay at the baseline, or you didn't hit aneffective return, you can try a ground stroke. Going down the middle is thesafest play because that's where the net is at its lowest point, and theother team may be confused about who covers the shot. Hitting crosscourt is also a high- percentage play, and presents anopportunity to keep the ball below net level and set your partner up for apoach on the next ball. The last option is to drive the ball down the line at the net player. The distance is shorter between you and this player, and the ball will get onhim quickly, potentially forcing a weak reply. Since you're keeping the ballin front of you, there's a good chance it will come back to you. But you'realso leaving yourself open to an angled volley between you on the baselineand your partner at net, which makes the down-the-line shot a riskiertactic.

• Lob Depending on how fast your opponents close in on the net and the qualityof their first volley, the lob can be useful. If your opponents have put youon the defensive with the first volley, you might need to throw up a highdefensive lob to keep your team in the point. Other times, when you hit agood return that forces your opponent to float a volley, you'll have time toset up and try an aggressive topspin lob that can put you in control of thepoint.