1- Know what to serve and when. If you’ve missed a serve because of high tension, it is more likely that you will not have the regular control and fluidity to execute your master serves. This is the worst possible time to launch an offensive using your tough and tricky serves as the chances are quite high that you may miss again. Stick to the safe short or medium, neutral serve.
2- When you aren’t playing, use that time to watch your opponents. Take a good look at how they play and what openings you can exploit in their game. Studying how they serve, how they return a serve and what are their strong and weak points will give you the winning edge, no matter how highly ranked they are.
3- Keep on attacking right till the end. Just because you are leading, don’t make the mistake of playing passive and hoping for your opponent to miss a shot so that you could win. If you do, the tables could turn very quickly and you could find yourself at the losing end.
4- Develop various styles of serving with differing lengths and spins. Mix them up when you play. Some of the more complex serves include pure spin, medium-long, short , deep, pure speed, down-the-line.
5- Returning serves with your forehand keeps your opponent on their toes as they find it harder to predict the placement of your shot. Don’t try too hard to make a perfect serve return. The important thing is to keep the ball in play and anticipate the next move.
6- You cannot take a long hiatus from the game and expect to win. The key to beating your opponent is practice, practice and practice some more. Better to practice for about an hour daily, then to have one marathon 4-5 hour session and then skip training for the next few days.
