Prior to 2002, from 1990-2001, serve and volley players won 23 of 48 majors. Almost 50%. Since 2001, Only Pete Sampras' last major at the US Open in 2002, and Roger Federer's first Wimbledon title in 2003 were won by players who used serve and volley as their style of play and means of attack. Why? What happened to the style of play?
Many experts will point to the quality of athlete improving as a main culprit. Others will direct our attention to the lighter, faster, and stronger racquets that have helped maximize the power of today's game. Still others will point to the string technology. I am here to tell you there is only one factor that has precipitated the extinction of serve and volley tennis - the change in court surface to a slower court with a higher bounce.
Serve and Volley tennis dominated the game through the 70's precisely because until 1976 three of the four majors were played on what I call the "old grass." Fast courts with ridiculously low bounces. On that surface, playing from the back of the court was just asking to lose. Only three baseline players won Wimbledon prior to 2002 - Andre Agassi playing from the back of the court in 1992, Jimmy Connors in 1974 and 1982, and Bjorn Borg 1976-1980. And Borg and Connors both would serve and volley against the serve and volleyers!
In 1975 the US Open changed their courts from fast grass to a har-tru clay court. Three baseline players - Manuel Orantes, Jimmy Connors, and Guillermo Vilas won the title. In 1978 they changed to Deco Turf II, a composite hard court. In the next 25 years of the event, Serve and volleyers won 14 of 25 events at the USTA National Tennis Center.
In 1988, the Australian Open switched their surface from a fast grass court to a rubber tire based hard court. Prior to 1988 serve and volleyers won all but 5 of the events. From 1988-2008 the Australian open surface was Rebound Ace. Serve and Volleyers won 3 of the events. The last serve and volleyer to win the event was Pete Sampras in 1997.
Back to 2002. In 2002 Wimbledon, which had seen 3 baseline players win the event in its illustrious history, changed their court surface from the fast grass to a new composite grass that slowed the court down and allowed the ball to bounce higher. Roger Federer's first title there in 2003 was the last showcase of this style of play at a high level. And even that year, he only served and volleyed on his first serve, staying back on second serves.
So there is a clear correlation between the slowing down of the court surfaces and the death of Serve and volley tennis. The causative factors are the higher bouncing slower courts. In order for Serve and Volley to come back, one of the non French Open majors must speed up the court and lower the bounce of the ball with a new surface choice that would promote serve and volley tennis as an effective strategy and style of play on every point. Without a change, serve and volley tennis will remain a thing of the past.
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2 comments:
Correlation is not causation. Strings do more for bounce than the surface, and the speed of the game overall is much faster than in those years.
Will - The ball impacts the ground (surface), which has the GREATEST influence on the ball's rebound. Spin, created by racquets and strings do influence the final result, but not to the degree that the surface impacts it. Hence why foam is not a suitable surface for tennis.
Courts dictate strategy and technique. Higher bouncing courts are precisely why modern technique has developed. A return to fast grass courts and fast indoor carpet, would result in a evolutionary change in grips and style of play.
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