The habit of establishing and holding pressure on a tennis adversary will pay big dividends. So many players bear down only in fits and starts. An early lead will give many a player a sense of false security, and cause him to let up, when actually he has nothing more than a slight advantage due to his opponent’s starting slowly. The match actually has not begun.
The let up may be fatal, because once a man has relaxed his pressure and let his opponent get started, he often finds it impossible to lift his game again and stop him. The place where most players are likely to throw away matches is about the middle of the second set, in a two-out-of-three-set match. A man has taken the first set, leads at perhaps 3-1 or 4-2, and decides that the match is as good as over. He stops concentrating, plays carelessly for a few moments, and before he realizes it he has lost his service. His opponent holds his service and the game score is tied, but now the man who led a few short minutes ago senses his danger and starts thinking how foolish he was to let up on the pressure.
The other man is buoyed up by the reprieve, senses his opponent’s uncertainty, and is apt to break through the first man’s service again, and run out the set. If he does, the entire complexion of the match is changed. Now the strain is on the man who threw away the lead, and unless he has a remarkably good match temperament he is likely to blow up and throw away the third and deciding set. Until you have won the last point of a match, there is no time when you are completely out of danger, if you let up. I know this only too well from many sad personal experiences. I cannot too strongly stress the absolute necessity of concentrating and keeping the pressure on, no matter how big your lead, or how helpless your opponent may appear.
Win first, and then be sympathetic. Don’t get sorry for him too soon, or you may wind up being sorry for yourself. This leads right into one of the most intricate aspects in the study of tennis, but one which is of inestimable value to the person who really appreciates it, and plays with it always in mind.
Playing to the score. Every point in a match is naturally important but there are certain points in each game, certain games in each set, and certain sets in a match that are crucial. The player who knows these points and games, and makes special effort to win them, will greatly increase his chances of victory. The crucial points in a game are the third and the fifth. The crucial games in a set are the fourth, particularly the seventh, and the ninth. The crucial sets are the first, in a two-out-of-three match, and the third, in a three-out-of-five match.
While understanding the psychology of these vital moments in tennis, never lose sight of the fact that every point, game, and set counts, and you must play to win them. Do not think that you can play carelessly at other times, if you play well at the critical stages. What I mean, in stressing them, is that you should exert extra effort at these times.
Consider the third point of a game! Your score is given first. The score stands 30-0, 15-all, or 0-30. In the first case, if you win the next point it gives you 40-0, and you will win that game about nine times out of ten. If, however, the score is 15-all, then the point means the advantageous position to you at 30-15 (or at 15-30, if you are receiving), from which you can press on to game. At 0-30, if you win the third point you still have a life-not too good, but still a chance-whereas if you lose it and are 0-40, then you have only about one chance in ten for the game.
The fifth point means that the score stands at 40-15, go-all, or 15-40. Here you are playing a point which, in two cases, actually means the game, while in the other case you are both fighting for a very important advantage. Certainly, if you’re ahead at 40- 15, you cannot afford to be careless, since a lost point will make it 40-30, and one more point won by your opponent evens the game at deuce. Yet many players play that 40-15 situation with an air of having such a commanding lead that they need not worry about it. I see more games booted away by a careless, half-concentrating shot at 40-15 than at any other time, and second to that is at 30-0, where the situation is fairly similar. The necessity for special effort on the 30-all and 15-40 situations is so obvious that I need do no more than point it out.
There are many psychologically important games. For that matter, every game is important, and no player should throw one away by carelessness or inattention. The psychological effect of winning the very first game, particularly if you can break your opponent’s service, may determine an entire match. If you possibly can, break your opponent’s first service game, and hold your own. Still, the chips are not really down until about the fourth game. Here is the big psychological moment in game score.
Let’s look at the possibilities. The score may be 3-0,2-1, 1-2, or 0-3. This next game really puts it up to you. if you win it and lead at 4-0 (in the first instance), you hold a double service break and will win the set an overwhelming majority of times. If you lead at 2-1, you are playing to establish or to hold a service break, and to stay in the lead at the halfway point in the set. This is a big advantage that may well make your opponent “press” in an attempt to recover. But if he wins this fourth game you are all even, with the psychological edge to him, particularly if he broke your serve to do it, since he has cut down your lead.
If you are on the short end of 1 -2 or 0-3, the reverse of all the above is true, and you must win the fourth game to stay in the set. Strange to say, the psychological advantage of winning the fourth game is greater than that of the fifth or. sixth, although both the latter are important, but the really big moment comes in the seventh game. The set usually hangs on it. The score is 5-1, 4-2, 3-all, or 1-5. Since the set ends, if the player leading at 5-1 wins the game, you can forget that situation. With that lead he will almost always win the set anyway. It is the 4-2 situation that is so vital, particularly if it is on your own service. Here you have the chance to push your opponent into an almost hopeless position.
If you win this seventh game, he must win three games in a row to get even to a deuce set, a far from pleasant prospect. On the other hand, if he breaks your service, he is within a game of being even, with his own service to follow. Encouraged by his success in breaking your delivery, he will probably reach 4-all easily. Once more, you will have allowed the psychological edge to get away from you and pass to him. Always make your greatest effort to consolidate a 4-2 lead. The 3-all situation explains itself, since you are both fighting for the obvious advantage on the first step after the halfway mark of the set. If you are down 2-4, you must win that game to stay in the set, as shown conversely above.
The ninth game of ten winds up the set, of course. The score is 5-3, 4-all, or 3-5. Since a victory for either man with five games means the set, I need only say, win it at all costs. The 4-all situation is where you are fighting for the set itself. If you win, the pressure on your opponent is greatly increased, since he will have his back to the wall in the next game, and every point will practically amount to set-point. If you lose that ninth game, then you will be the one who will be fighting for his life. Give all you own in the ninth game, and if you win it, many times your opponent cracks and the tenth is easy.
It goes without saying that every set is of extreme importance. Any time you drop a set you are in danger, but in a two-out-of-three-set match, the first set usually carries the victory with it. I believe that the man who wins the first set wins 80 per cent of the two-out-of-three-set matches played. If you are a set in, your opponent is placed under the tremendous pressure of knowing that he cannot afford to let you have a chance at another. Therefore, he is forced to work at top speed all through the second set, which, even if he wins it, may well take such a toll of his physical and nervous reserves that he will have nothing left in the third set. In a three-out-of-five-set match, the climactic set, in my opinion, is usually the third.
The first is naturally of great psychological value, but it is not actually decisive. If you can win both the first two sets, so much the better. Still, the third set is the critical one. If the score is 2 sets to 0, a victory in the third means the match. If you are behind at 0-2, you must win the third or the match is lost. But in many three-out-of-five set matches, the players divide the first two sets and stand at 1-all.
Now the real importance of that third set comes to the fore. If you win it and lead, 2 sets to 1, the discouragement to your opponent is tremendous. By the end of a third set, any player will be feeling the physical strain, more or less. To face the necessity of winning two sets in a row places a great burden on the mental and physical courage of your opponent. It looks like an awfully long road back. You may even be able to afford taking the chance of running him in the fourth set and, even if you lose it, tire him so much that he will be easy in the fifth.
It is, of course, better to keep pressure on in the fourth set, and take no chances. If your opponent leads you 1-2, then it’s up to you to muster all the guts you have, go out for a quick victory in the fourth set, and then shoot the works in the fifth, even if you wind up flat on your face at the end.
There is much more to playing to the score than just learning what points, games, and sets are crucial. You must know how to put the pressure on your opponent in the most effective and winning way. Putting pressure on an opponent is not just hitting hard and rushing the net.
There are many other ways, just as difficult for him and much safer for you. The method should be determined by the situation. When you have a commanding lead, and an error will cost your opponent a vital point, perhaps even a game or set, give him every opportunity to make it. Keep that ball going back to him at all costs and always, if possible, to a new place so that he must move to reach it.
Every time he hits the ball he is aware that, if he makes an error, it’s costly, and each return you send back to him makes him more and more nervous and tense. If he should give you a weak mid-court return, which he is very apt to do under pressure of that kind, then attack it deep, not too hard, very safe and sure, and go in behind it! Pass the buck to him. Now he must take a chance or lose, for if he defends, you have the kill. He will probably go all out for his shot and miss.
Whenever you have your opponent where he cannot afford to take a chance, keep the ball going back and vary spin, speed, direction, and depth consistently, but never so much that you are in re al danger of missing. Give yourself plenty of margin. Only if you have an exceptional chance should you attempt to win outright. Do not let him off the hook by making errors yourself. Make him earn his way off, if he can, by the sweat of his brow and his own good shots, because, if he should get off, he will have a psychological uplift that will make him very dangerous.
Always use your service aggressively at the crucial moments of a match, if you are behind. If you are ahead, match-point, coming up for you when you least expect it. Many a match can be turned by taking advantage of the unexpected reprieve, or the lucky break in your favour.
Always be on your guard against giving your opponent another chance he hasn’t earned. Consolidate your gains whenever you pile up an advantage, and be ready to jump in and grab an opening if it’s given to you.