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AGGRESSIVE BASELINER An aggressive baseliner tries to win the point by hitting ''winners'' from the back of the court, attacking with fast balls that the opponent cannot reach or return properly. He may not try to win the point outright with one shot, but instead may hit the ball from side to side until he spots an opening. Aggressive baseliners normally have at least one great groundstroke (often the Forehand ). An aggressive baseliner can overpower and overwhelm any opposition. However, when going for winners, he can produce many ''errors''. Some all-time great aggressive baseliners are Bill Johnston , Ivan Lendl , Andre Agassi , Jim Courier , Monica Seles and Steffi Graf . Most active players today are aggressive baseliners; a few notable ones are Marat Safin , Andy Roddick , Venus Williams , Serena Williams , Kim Clijsters , Maria Sharapova and Lindsay Davenport . In regards to the "power" game, Monica Seles has often been credited as the first player to use groundstrokes to such a devastating effect. DEFENSIVE BASELINER A defensive baseliner, or ''counterpuncher'' or ''retriever'', returns every ball and relies on the opponent making mistakes. He has consistent shots, makes few errors of his own while making it difficult for opponents to hit ''winners''. A counterpuncher must have speed and agility to cover the court. He is a fighter, and has to have willingness to chase down every ball to frustrate opponents. Usually he also has great ''passing shots'' to score points when the opponent is at the net. Counterpunchers often excel on slow courts, such as clay courts. The court gives them extra time to chase down shots and it is harder for opponents to create winners. Counterpunchers are often strong players at low level play, where opponents can not make winners with regularity. Great counterpunchers of all time include Michael Chang and Arantxa Sánchez Vicario . Active players are Rafael Nadal , Lleyton Hewitt , Guillermo Coria , Martina Hingis , Elena Dementieva and Anastasia Myskina . SERVE AND VOLLEYER Main article: Serve And Volley A serve and volleyer has a great net game; quick around the net and has great touch for Volley s. '' Serve And Volley ers'' come up to the net at every opportunity when serving. They are almost always attackers and can hit many ''winners'' with varieties of volleys and Drop Volley s. When not serving, they often employ the "chip-and-charge", returning the serve and rushing the net. The Serve And Volley ers' strategy is to pressure the opponent to try to hit difficult passing shots. Serve and volleyers benefit from playing on fast courts, such as the grass courts. The quick bounce and faster pace of play give an advantage because opponents have less time to hit a passing shot. The number of serve and volley players are decreasing in today's professional tennis, because this strategy requires more experience to master and defeat other playing styles. Some of the great ones in history are Jack Kramer , Frank Sedgman , Pancho Gonzales , Lew Hoad , John McEnroe , Pete Sampras , Boris Becker , Stefan Edberg , Patrick Rafter , Jana Novotná and Martina Navratilova . Active players today include Tim Henman , Greg Rusedski , Mario Ancic , Taylor Dent , and Lisa Raymond . Bill Tilden , the dominant player of the 1920s, preferred to play from the backcourt and liked nothing better than to face an opponent who rushed the net -- one way or another Tilden would find a way to hit the ball past him. In his book Match Play And The Spin Of The Ball , Tilden propounds the theory that ''by definition'' a great baseline player will always beat a great serve-and-volleyer. However, the arguably best player of all-time, Pete Sampras, was a serve-and-volleyer. Some of the best matches of all time have pitted great baseliners such as Björn Borg or Andre Agassi against great serve-and-volleyers such as John McEnroe or Pete Sampras. ALL-COURT PLAYER All-court players lie somewhere in between baseliners and volleyers. They usually have an attacking game, mixing some groundstrokes and volleys to keep the opponent guessing. They are very versatile; when an all-court player's baseline game is not working, he may switch to a net game, and vice versa. A disadvantage is that usually an all-court player can not excel in one particular aspect; he may be good, but not great, on a variety of shots. Among the best all-court players of all time are Bill Tilden , Ellsworth Vines , Don Budge , Ken Rosewall , Rod Laver , and Jimmy Connors . Pancho Gonzales was seen by most observers as being as a serve-and-volleyer; he considered himself, however, an all-court player. Great all-court players today include Roger Federer and Justine Henin-Hardenne , Ivan Ljubicic , and Amelie Mauresmo . |
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