This is the third article of a series of seven
Inevitably you will encounter a player who completely frustrates you and no matter what you try, you keep failing to come up with a winning strategy.
Learn to identify your opponent’s particular style, strengths and weaknesses, and their pattern of play, and how to exploit these to your advantage.
As well, inform yourself regarding your own style of play to develop the best strategy to protect your weaknesses.
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3. The Aggressive Baseliner
The Aggressive Baseliner is either uncomfortable to come up to the net or their forehand or backhand is such a weapon that they don’t need to. They can put you away using powerful baseline strokes.
Strategy
Figure out what makes them uncomfortable and force them to play that stroke or position.
If uncomfortable up at the net, force them up to the net as much as possible.
If they have a deadly forehand shot but a weaker backhand, force them to have to use their backhand as much as possible. If their weakness is their backhand, serve wide so they need to stretch out to return their shot and then hit the ball to their backhand. You can also place the serve to their backhand directly. For variety, jam them on their backhand side by serving into their body.
On the return, slice the shot at an angle to their backhand. Hit deep returns, high off the ground to keep them behind the baseline - applies also to groundstrokes. Since they hate coming up to the net, you can afford to hit your shots high.
Play the Forehand and Hit Deep to Their Backhand so that your next shot is a forehand
If necessary, run around the ball to play the forehand.
Control the center of the court and play deep to your opponent’s backhand to keep them beyond the baseline where they will be less effective.
Slice the ball keeping it low to the ground – usually uncomfortable for baseliners, ad will at the very least, it will help slow down their groundstrokes.
Move up to the net when given the opportunity by placing your approach shot deep into their backhand, deep in the corner. If in doubt, on shots where you could either stay back or move up to the net, approach the net. The reason you want to move up to the net is to disrupt their flow and break the rhythm of those that like to slug it out from the baseline. By moving forward, you can put points away more quickly and forces the opponent to either lob you or hit a passing shot.
Keep Your Opponent Moving - deny them the opportunity to explode into the ball, by moving them from side to side and keeping your shots deep in their court. Hit a drop shot just clearing the net with backspin forcing your opponent to come up to the net (the part of the court they hate), following which you can either lob or pass them.
Feed Off Their Pace and Control Court Positioning - use their pace to create your shots, forcing them to generate their own power. When using this strategy it’s important to hit your shots deep into your opponent’s court which will open up the court even more for you and allow you to hit even deeper. (Of course, if your opponent has a very powerful stroke and hits consistently deep balls, you may not be able to do this.) However, chances are, not all their shots are going to be deep, giving you opportunities to move up. Take advantage of those opportunities - remember, your objective is to disrupt their rhythm, prevent them from hitting their most powerful shots, and not letting them play their game.
Reference
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