Doubles

While the main side of tennis is singles, doubles is played just as much and just as competitively. Instead of one person on the court in singles, two people are on the court in doubles. The basic formation is that one person stands on the baseline on half of the court to return and the other stands on the other half at the net. Formations can be changed to help catch opponents off guard or to avoid weaknesses. A formation that is seen often is when both the player stand back and neither is at the net. This can be useful if either players is bad at volleys and is uncomfortable at the net. In the four major tournaments, there is also a doubles side to it. The main doubles players from the US are the Bryan brothers. They are twins and they are ranked number one in the world for doubles. Doubles is a game that requires quick reflexes, good volleys, and amazing placement. Only some tennis players are very good at doubles. you must also be very in-sync with your partner or you will mess up. Doubles is very different from singles. In singles, you have to cover the whole court while in doubles only half. Strategies in doubles also differ greatly because of two people playing instead of one.

Rackets and Strings

Each player has there preference of clothes and rackets. Each racket performs differently. Each player prefers a certain type of spin, power, and placement and rackets can give the certain amount of each of these. Strings can also be used to change these factors. There are a wide range of strings to choose from and most players do not have the same type of string because they can be crossed. Being crossed means that one string goes across the racket one way and another string goes across the racket another way. String tension also plays a major role in the was the racket performs. If a racket is strung more loosely, you will have more feel and less power. If the racket is strung tighter, you will have more power and less feel. Once again, each player is different so these vary player to player. Strings can break very easily so they need to be re-strung and re-stringing can be difficult and time consuming but if practiced a lot, you can get it down. When players break strings, they must use another racket and this is why they carry a lot of rackets around. Rackets and strings can sometimes tell why players play so differently from one another.

Shots and Stokes

In tennis, many shots and stokes can help and improve your game. These strokes can help you win and catch your opponent off guard. The main shot that all players hit is the forehand. Depending on whether you are a right handed player or a left handed player will determine which side will be your forehand. This shot is used to attack and this is most players favorite shot to hit. The next main shot that a players hits is the backhand. Once again, it depends if you are right handed or left handed. The backhand can be a difficult shot but it by practicing you can get it down. A shot that helps people when they are in trouble is the slice. The slice can be used for forehands or backhands. In this shot, the player hits down on the ball putting backspin on it and causing it to stop when it hits the other side. It takes the player off guard and you can hit it off balance making it a good defensive shot. The shot that starts the point and that all players must learn to hit is the serve. It is an over-hand stroke that is hit into the box on the opposite side of the court. This shot sets up the point and can be used to win a lot of points. A fun shot to hit is the tweener. The tweener is a shot hit between the legs and can be used to return a deep lob when you are at the net.

Strategies

In tennis, many strategies can be used to try and beat your opponent. Having a strategy when you play is essential for becoming good and beating your opponents. To have a strategy, you must know how you are going to execute it and make sure it works. A good one to use is the chip-and-charge strategy. In this, you hit a lob from the baseline and charge into the net. Your opponent would not expect it and it usually works. A strategy that is useful but not thought of often is scouting. Scouting an opponent beforehand is very useful because you know what you are going up against. If you see flaws you can remember them try to attack their flaws when you play the person. A strategy that most doubles players use is the serve and volley. In doubles, the players only have to cover half the court, unlike singles, in which the person has to cover the whole court.The serve and volley strategy is self-explanatory: The server serves the ball and comes in. This is useful and because you are only covering half the court. Your opponent will be surprised by this strategy and sometimes be overwhelmed. These are only a couple of the many strategies that can help you win a match against a good player.

Player's Traits

Pro tennis players must travel a lot. They also must be very dedicated and want to play. Tournaments are in many different countries and places. They also must train to get better and to improve. Players must be dedicated because if they are not they will not want to travel or to train. Players that are dedicated show it on the court and they win. The top five players in the world are very dedicated and they all trained very hard to get there. They would not be where there are now if they did not want it. Most top players are very well conditioned too. They can withstand long matches even when they give all their effort. Players must also be very mentally tough. Tennis is one of the few sports where it is just you out there. You cannot get coached and you cannot receive any help. Players must be very mentally tough because if they are not, they will get mad and play bad. When you play doubles tennis, you can have a partner that you can rely on but when your playing singles it is only you out there. These are the traits of some of the best tennis players in the world.

Tournaments

In professional tennis, there are four major tournaments. These tournament are the US Open, Wimbledon, the Australian Open, and the French Open. My personal favorite is Wimbledon because it is played on grass. Wimbledon is the only one out of the four that plays on grass. The two that are played on hard courts are the US Open and the French Open. The Australian Open is the only tournament that is played on clay. I have only been to one of these tournaments and this was the US Open. The US open is played in Queens, New York. All of these have similar importance. They all are "the same level" and they all have the best players play in them.A Grand Slam is when a person wins all of these tournaments in one year. This is very difficult and it hasn't occurred recently. Wimbledon is Roger Federer's favorite tournament. He is always the favorite in that tournament because he has so much experience on grass courts. The Rafael Nadal's favorite major is the Australian Open. He is always favorited in this tournament as well because he grew up playing on clay courts. The Australian Open is usually won by Nadal. The other two tournaments do not have "usual winners" because both are played on hard and all of the pros are used to hard.

US Open Finals Nadal vs Murray