Winning matches often comes down to breaking serve. There are of course the rare exceptions where a match is determined with no breaks and ends 7-6, 7-6, or something along those lines. For the majority of matches played, there will be at least one break of serve. If you can find a way to break more often, you will also find yourself winning more matches.
Breaking serve can sometimes be out of your control. The server has complete control over the serve and if he/she can hit spots well for a game, it may not be possible to break, no matter how good of a returner you may be. But I have good news, you may just need one break to win a set! Here are a few pieces of advice I have picked up over the years to help improve your return game and win more matches!
1. Take a lesson from the best returners in the world. What makes pro players the best returners in the world... well, they're professionals. And the ones that are exceptional on the return are typically the ones who go far in tournaments over the course of the year and have the highest ranking points. One thing they are extremely good at is avoiding return errors wide. They may miss in the net. They may miss long. But very rarely do the top returners miss wide.
You can apply this to your game by focusing on returning through the middle half of the court. First serve, second serve, it doesn't matter. Return through the middle. Shift your mindset from wanting to push your opponent into a corner and get them running from the first ball. Why, you might ask? It's a great follow-up question and quite the simple answer: returns are more defensive. Think about it, your opponent has two chances to make a shot that they have complete control over. If you're greedy with your return placement, it will typically result in many errors. Give yourself a chance by starting the point through the middle half of the court on the return.
2. Redefine what a "big point" is on the return. If I mention a "big point," you probably think about 30-40, deuce, something late in the game. While those may be points that determine the outcome of a game, they only happen if you start the game well. I tell players that I work with that the biggest point of the game comes at love-love. If you get up love-15 on your opponent's serve, the worst thing that can happen after point #2 is you're back to even at 15-15. The "big points" in a game actually come at the beginning of the game so that you can avoid playing from behind, giving yourself an advantage opportunities to capitalize upon.
3. My last return tip is another one that the pros do well. Adjust your positioning. Moving back on the return gives you more time to react to the serve but you give up some angles. Moving in on the return cuts off the angles, but gives you less time to react. The best players in the world vary their return location to give themselves different looks and also change the perspective and patterns of play for the server. If you move back a few steps on the return, a key item to be aware of is that it's wise to play higher and deeper through the middle. It will be very difficult to get the ball over the net and back down into the court on a short angle when positioned deep beyond the baseline. On the flipside, when moving in, some crosscourt angles can be advantageous because of your positioning inside the baseline and shortened reaction time for your opponent. Both can be beneficial, and I would recommend using many different positions to return from over the course of a match.
Hope these three tips come in handy during your next matches as you look to boost your game!
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