Serve and volley game

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The serve-and-volley game is an offensive game strategy in tennis that was particularly popular in the 1980s and 1990s. The aim of the serving player is to put the opponent in distress with a hard and well placed serve and then to immediately advance to the net. The often imprecise return is then answered directly by the serving player with a volley - in the best case scenario, the rally can be won directly. The serve-and-volley game is particularly effective on fast court surfaces, on which the speed of the ball is hardly slowed down.

It is a dynamic game strategy that was already practiced in the 1960s and 1970s by Australian tennis players such as Rod Laver and John Newcombe , but also by the American Arthur Ashe . This offensive tennis was then developed to perfection in the 1980s and 1990s by players like John McEnroe , Stefan Edberg , Boris Becker and Pete Sampras .

Critics of the system criticize the fact that there is hardly any flow of the game in the matches. The rallies are very short and therefore arouse less enthusiasm among the crowd than competitive baseline duels. This criticism solidified over the years. Especially due to changes in the rubbers and balls that have made the game slower, the game of serve and volley is no longer as effective today as it was in the 1980s and 1990s. The modern rackets with large racket heads, which are covered with a grippy surface and are overall lighter, encourage points to be won over topspin.