Stepanek Serves and Volleys to Success
The tennis player, Radek Stepanek, seems to have a reputation as a “character” who acts a bit differently on-court and sometimes gets a little under the skin of his opponents. At the same time, Stepanek is clearly in his element when he approaches the net, which he does frequently. More than any other top 20 player, Stepanek spends
more time around the service line as he serves and volleys and chips and charges on returns on all surfaces including clay courts. It’s a different look for most of Stepanek’s opponents and that can be very challenging when they’re used to having a lot of baseline rallies.
Stepanek has good volleys and touch around the net, but what stands about his game in this era is that he manages to successfully come to the net behind a good, but not great, serve. Radek mixes up his serve placement, speed and spin very effectively. His solid, but not spectacular serving is reminiscent of other strong serve and volleyers from the past such as Stefan Edberg and Patrick Rafter, who often served three-quarter pace first serves. Not surprisingly as a serve and volleyer, Stepanek first achieved success as a doubles player and then improved his singles ranking. Stepanek will be thirty-one in late November, but he has already won four career singles titles and earned more than $1 million in prize money in 2009 and more than $6 million during his career. Given Stepanek’s success, it’s a little surprising that there aren’t a few more players achieving success with a serve and volley game.
Stepanek has good volleys and touch around the net, but what stands about his game in this era is that he manages to successfully come to the net behind a good, but not great, serve. Radek mixes up his serve placement, speed and spin very effectively. His solid, but not spectacular serving is reminiscent of other strong serve and volleyers from the past such as Stefan Edberg and Patrick Rafter, who often served three-quarter pace first serves. Not surprisingly as a serve and volleyer, Stepanek first achieved success as a doubles player and then improved his singles ranking. Stepanek will be thirty-one in late November, but he has already won four career singles titles and earned more than $1 million in prize money in 2009 and more than $6 million during his career. Given Stepanek’s success, it’s a little surprising that there aren’t a few more players achieving success with a serve and volley game.
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