The Forehand Return of Serve Part 1: Compact Classical

Roger Federer: a compact, classical, aggressive forehand return.

It’s been argued that the return of serve is as important or possibly more important than the serve itself, since without the ability to break every set ends in a tiebreaker. Clearly we saw the role the return could play in Novak Djokovic’s titanic Australian victory over Rafael Nadal. (Click Here to read Craig O’Shannessey’s article about that.)

But when we say “return of serve,” what do we mean? There is no one return. In reality there are many versions. Obviously there are forehands and backhands, and the backhands can be hit with either one or two hands. And many players make extensive use of the slice on both the forehand and backhand side.

As with every shot in pro tennis when you look closely at our incredible high speed film, you see the returns are a changing combination of technical elements–elements that differ from player to player—and also for the same player from ball to ball. And definitely from the groundstroke versions of the same shots.

In this new series let’s delve into the range, the variations, and the complexities of the pro returns. Then let’s come to some conclusions about…