Serve & Volley Nostalgia

As I sit here and watch Jesse Levine struggling to recover in the 5th set versus Cuevas I cannot help but long for some volleying. Oh I have seen Jesse come to net and put away a few shots - he is an excellent volleyer - but that's not true volleying. I grew up a serve and volleyer and it was a very different premise. Right now players approach the net when the point is already in hand. By that I mean their shot has their opponent well off the court or is practically a winner and the volley is a mere poke to some wide open space. The serve & volley game I learned was about precision volleys and applying constant pressure on your opponent. Let's examine that a little closer.

Whether playing from the baseline or net, controlling the point and keeping the opponent under pressure is the difference between winning and losing. The way it works with serve and volley is you hit a serve to produce a weak or predictable return and then play a well-placed volley designed to wrong foot your opponent or get them on the run. This way they are confronted with two choices - hit a passing shot winner to a very small fraction of the court or lose the point. You see the odds favor the serve and volleyer. You control the point from the outset, you make your opponent run and scramble, prohibiting them from getting in a groove, and they have two chances to lose the point and only one to win it. They win by hitting a great shot. If they hit an average shot you pounce on it and volley for a winner. If they miss they lose as well - its 2-1 in your favor.

Now I fully understand that the game has changed. Equipment is different, balls are different and surface speeds are different. Most notably the strings are different and this is allowing players to generate more spin than we have ever seen in the history of the game. This means they can hit shots harder and have them stay in and they can create wider angles than were produced historically. But I find it hard to believe that strategically this could totally alter the ability of players to have success as serve and volleyers. I still believe that constant pressure to make great passing shots over the course of an entire set or 5 can and should work in your favor regardless of where you play. In reality, since the server gets to start the point on their terms, I believe a good serve and volleyer at the top of their game should defeat a good baseliner at the top of their game 3 out of 4 times.

Has the pendulum just swung over to the baseliners for the present or for the long term? Will this produce a counter-reaction - or an opportunity - for someone to win by incorporating a less commonly used strategy? Will we ever again get to enjoy the great style contrasts we have historically - McEnroe/Borg, Sampras/Agassi, Edberg/Lendl, Navratilova/Evert? I sure hope so.