Moving your opponent is the best way to neutralize a two hander.
For years, hitting the backhand with two hands instead of one has been the preferred style at both the pro and recreational levels. In a perfect world I would teach a player to use a two-handed backhand for service returns and topspin drives, but [...]

1. Showcase Your Assets The biggest strength in Ginepri’s game is his movement—the guy is super-swift around the court. Yet through the first half of 2005, he preferred to play an aggressive, high-risk style that took his feet out of the game plan. Instead of using his speed and defense, he tried to hit winners [...]

Get A Lather Going: One of the things I like about Nalbandian is how relaxed he is when he starts a match. He doesn’t force anything in the first couple of games and eases into the action. I think a big reason for this is that when he walks onto the court he already has [...]

1. Build Your Consistency. When Andre Agassi was making a name for himself on tour, his style was much flashier than it is today. He would hit a ton more winners but make many errors as well. Overall, he was very successful but also erratic. As he’s gotten older, Agassi has learned to play what [...]

Five things you can learn from Roger Federer’s victory in the 2004 U.S. Open men’s final.
1. KICK IT OLD SCHOOL
I like to say that Roger Federer has brought the old-school game of tennis to the modern world. He plays with tremendous variety of shot and strategy, and it was all on display in his 6-0, [...]

Five things you can learn from Maria Sharapova’s victory over Serena Williams in the 2004 Wimbledon women’s final.
1. GO DEEP
Serena Williams is known for putting her opponents on their heels, but in this match she was the one hitting off her back foot. Maria Sharapova’s ground strokes had tremendous pace, but equally important was how [...]

Three improvements that helped her win a first Grand Slam title.
1. Don’t Go to the Well Too Often
Mauresmo has one of the best backhands in women’s tennis. She can do anything with it—crush a drive, roll a loop, or carve a slice. Still, there have been times when she’s leaned too heavily on that shot. [...]

Three things you can pick up from this clever comeback champ.
1. USE YOUR HEAD
There’s so much to like about Martina Hingis’ style of play, but my favorite thing about her game is the way her brain is always churning. She’s constantly looking for holes in her opponent’s game and trying to figure out what she [...]

Three ways his ultra-aggressive style can help your game.
1. HIT THROUGH YOUR NERVES
When the score is close, you’ve basically got two ways to play. The first is the style that I preferred—limit your mistakes and try to draw errors from your opponent. The other method— Gonzalez’s bread and butter—is to let it rip. The closer [...]

Three improvements she has made that will help your game.
1. CONTROL YOUR EMOTIONS
The biggest difference I’ve noticed in Nadia Petrova’s game recently is her ability to manage her anger. It used to be only a matter of time before she mentally imploded if she wasn’t playing well. Petrova was constantly screaming at herself, which would [...]