Modern baseline tennis dominates the professional game, but net play remains a potent weapon — and a strategically important variation. Players who can threaten the net force opponents to change their patterns, increase the pace of their passing shots, and attempt lower-percentage lobs. Even the threat of net approach changes how an opponent plays the entire match.
Serve-and-volley means serving, then immediately sprinting forward to the net to volley the return before it lands. This tactic removes time from the returner — they must make a passing shot or lob decision immediately under pressure, rather than setting up in a comfortable rally. It was dominant in the 1970s and 1980s (John McEnroe, Stefan Edberg, Pete Sampras) but declined as slower surfaces, heavier strings, and more physical baseline players made it less effective.
On grass — Wimbledon especially — serve-and-volley remains viable because the low, fast bounce makes it genuinely difficult to thread a passing shot at pace. On clay, the higher bounce and slower pace give returners time to set up, making serve-and-volley significantly riskier.
More common in the modern game is the "approach shot" — when a short ball presents itself in a rally, the player attacks it deep into a corner and follows it to the net. The logic: a well-struck approach shot pushed deep to the backhand corner creates a very difficult pass for the opponent. The attacker need only be in reasonable volleying position to finish the point.
The approach shot direction is critical: typically into the open court or behind the opponent as they try to recover. An approach shot that allows the opponent to easily run around and hit an inside-out forehand is an approach shot that will be punished.
Players who mix net approaches into predominantly baseline games create tactical discomfort. The opponent must now simultaneously defend against both deep baseline shots and sudden net rushes — two completely different patterns requiring different positioning and responses. This versatility is one reason all-court players (Roger Federer, Stefan Edberg) have historically performed above expectation on multiple surfaces, even those not perfectly suited to their baseline game.
