Rolling in the deep: why tennis players are backing off against serve

Retreating further and further behind the baseline to return serve on clay has become a notable trend in men’s tennis

As Alejandro Davidovich Fokina took to the court last month to face his fellow Spaniard, Albert Ramos Viñolas, at the Madrid Open it soon became clear he had a slight problem.

Between the lines, all modern tennis courts measure the same, but the distances beyond them vary dramatically. The outside courts in Madrid had very little room behind the baseline and were narrow, a problem for a player such as Davidovich Fokina who enjoys returning serve from deep on clay. His attempts to return serve left the linesmen diving out of the way and led to numerous near misses with the back fence.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/1wdvUCg