Jake Rowland 
Want to make a comfortable cross-court return feel like a trap? Put both doubles partners on the same side of the court before the serve. The Australian formation crowds the returner’s favorite diagonal, invites a riskier shot down the line, and gives the server a clear job after serving: move across and protect that open … Read more
Your opponent is sprinting toward the sideline. You’ve got the open court in front of you, and every instinct says: hit there. But sometimes the nastiest shot is the one that goes straight back behind them. They’re already moving one way; now they have to brake, turn, and scramble back the other way. That tiny … Read more
A serve used to be a tennis player’s opening statement. Andre Agassi made it feel like the other guy’s turn to answer. He would plant himself near the baseline, watch the ball come off the strings, and send the return back with such speed and depth that the server’s supposed advantage could vanish before the … Read more
Imagine standing on the baseline with Chris Evert across the net. She doesn’t need a thunderbolt serve or a highlight-reel swing to make you sweat. She sends the ball back, deep and clean. Then she does it again. And again—until you’re the one reaching, guessing, and finally missing. That was the quiet pressure of Evert’s … Read more
One person wants a dawn hit. Someone else has never held a racquet. The kids are lobbying for a pool, Grandpa would rather watch than play, and you—somehow—have been asked to make everyone happy. Welcome to the multi-generational tennis holiday: potentially brilliant, occasionally chaotic, and absolutely worth planning well. The secret is not finding the … Read more
Imagine standing on the grass where tennis’s first great champions chased a ball in long skirts, then crossing town to see the court where Borg and McEnroe turned a tiebreak into sporting legend. A tennis-history trip can do that: put the stories, surfaces and famous court lines right under your feet. The trick is choosing … Read more
Monica Seles didn’t just hit the ball hard. She made it feel as if the ball had barely bounced before it was already screaming back at her opponent. From either side, she could take a rising shot early, drive it deep, and send it sharply across court—or change direction down the line before a defender … Read more
A tennis ball is screaming toward your shoulder. You’re sure it’s going long. You turn away, feel a quick thump against your shirt—and then hear your opponent claim the point. Can they really win it without the ball ever landing in? Yes. If a live ball touches you or something you’re wearing before it bounces, … Read more
A fast ball is screaming toward your forehand, you’re stretched wide, and there’s no time to set your feet in a textbook line. This is exactly where the open-stance forehand shines. Plant, coil, turn through the ball—and suddenly a defensive scramble can become a deep, heavy reply that buys you time to get back in … Read more
A player can hit twice as many winners as an opponent and still lose the match. Sounds backward, right? But tennis has a nasty little habit of punishing the wrong risk at the wrong moment. One spectacular forehand winner gets everyone cheering; one loose rally ball at break point can quietly hand away the game. … Read more