Why Is Serve Volley Tennis Dead?

Why Is Serve Volley Tennis Dead?
Modern tennis is missing a variety of game styles, with many of the top 100 pros playing a predominant baseline style of play.
It wasn't always like this though...
Up until the early 2000s, serve and volley players could dominate on faster courts, and players like Pete Sampras and Pat Rafter would be rewarded for their attacking game on the hallowed grass courts of Wimbledon.

[ctbwx]

Your take at the end of the video is spot on. We've gone from one extreme to the other. It would be great to have more balance of play styles in major tournaments.

[seiya]

It would be a dream seeing Wimbledon Centre Court with the grass worn out near the net again, like in the good old times. 100% agree with your statements at the end of the video, make some tournaments faster, so players with different styles can win. Enough with the same two or three players winning all tournaments with the exact same style of play. It gets boring.

[jorgwalzer]

Thanks a lot for analysing. I really miss the "old" serve&volley champions of the 90s. Just saw on YT a match between Sampras and Rafter. Just beautiful. I would love to see a revival of this type of tennis.

[barryb-uk]

Tennis is becoming dull as most players now have basically the same style - extreme Western grip forehands and two-handed backhands. It's becoming a test of who is the best grinder, and the all court game is fast disappearing (serve and volley died with the invention of poly strings). Changes need to be made sooner rather than later.

[Purple_Haze]

Speaking as a former D1 serve and volley player, the game has become boring...not necessarily because the matches/players themselves are boring, but the diversity in playing style is missing. I think your logic of having different court speeds at different parts of the season would help solve this....obviously where the game is now has taken decades to get here, but I'm hopeful we'll see the beauty of serve and volleying again.

[begruikersnaam]

Absolutely! They should mix it up more, slow and fast courts, and faster balls overall

[nicolascontentin]

I 100% agree with you, we need more variety of play. The last one to serve volley was Max Cressy and he has disappeared after players worked out a way around his game plans. We need more players like him, offering an attacking style of play

[Chief]

This is why Borg was one of the best players in the world. Being able to win the French open and Wimbledon back when they played so differently.
We need contrast in tennis to make it interesting

[kevinlui]

What a pity.. there used to be different surfaces for different players, it’s harder to dominant in all surfaces thus making each grand slam more interesting..

[emanuelet]

It's crazy in a sport were the players get millions, the tournaments do not have the money to ask for high quality balls.

[Dazza]

Courts definitely too uniform and slow! There should be fast and slow courts for all styles. Bring back fast grass

[keaneoRX]

Agassi vs Sampras, Rafter vs Chang, Edberg vs Courier, Net players against Baseline players we want to see that opposition of styles again...

[sassanxersi]

Your words sit on my heart when you talk from your heart. There are already a few indoor hardcourts that are fast, but I don't know how they compare to old grass. But I agree that more fast tournaments will suit those who like these things. If some day I am rich I will arrange a fast tournament in my place; I promise.

[lynyrdskynyrd]

It is horrible that the serve and volley game is gone... it is a beautiful game to watch because it takes great athleticism to do it... Edberg, McEnroe, Sampras etc were awesome athletes to watch...

[Andras]

Another aspect not to underestimate is that since the change on courts/balls forced the game into the bottleneck of serve+forehand&baseline rallies now it's much easier to breed players for the teaching/coaching systems. You know right from the start how to do that: you need strong athletes so HIIT is applied since they are very young, you raise them with a 2HBH, a heavy topspin semiwestern forehand and a solid kick serve. Basically breeding percentage tennis players gives you a better percentage of chances of success in doing so

[Ilegator]

This is so necessary!! US Open last year made the courts really fast, I hope they keep some of that for next year. But the biggest issue right now are still the poor balls.

[maxvecna]

I was a serious tennis player and fan in the 1970s and 1980, and followed the game closely until around 2000. I don't know what makes people think rallies are more exciting than serve-and-volley tennis. The clash of styles and strategy of the game is so much more interesting to me than all baseline games. I've completely lost interest in a game I loved and played for years, and now I play Pickleball, a much more quick and fun game. I'm 67 years old, so that's part of it, but that's where I am today.

My life as a tennis fan is over.

[DeanLalor-mcqw]

Great Video. I'm 63, and I miss the skill and excitement of serve and volley tennis. Roscoe, Vitas,
Bjorn !!!

[Speedy_Sneedy]

Totally agree with your conclusion and it sounds like most pros do too

[gerardmackay]

People forget that some of the Sampras Wimbledon finals were unwatchable (especially against an equally big server like Ivanesevic). One notorious mid 90s final saw only 10% of points exceed 3 strokes. Today is all about power (they spend more time in the gym than the court) and if you aren’t tall forget it ( the last winner of Wimbledon to be under 6ft was Lleyton Hewitt). For me abandoning the old wooden racquets, with the small sweet spot, was the beginning of the end. Short players like Rosewall and Laver in particular played with such beautiful finesse they were a joy to watch. Wham bam grunt slam is what you get now and monotony rules.