How do you beat a....

[kevhen]

hard hitting lefty? I lost another 4.0 level match! This guy is not fast but hits hard and can control alot of the points hitting from side to side. He will come to net if he needs to. His serve is OK, and he never double faults, but not too hard to return for the lefty that he is.

I went out and served big in the first set and won 6-3 holding the whole way and then breaking him to go up 5-3. I had quite a few aces out wide since he cheats towards the middle and also to protect his weaker slice backhand side. He takes a big cut at my big serve so he made a lot of errors returning it.

He tries to play mind games and will talk about how great your serve is and will goof around and ask to repeat the point if a neighboring ball comes rolling onto your court after the point is over. I usually dish it right back to him, so he knows I am not intimidated with his mind games.

But I did get weaker physically and mentally in the second and thirds sets and lost them 2 and 2. But I am not playing much tennis now so I don't feel as strong in those aspects and also am using a new racquet now that I am still making too many errors with as I get used to it being headlight and not evenly balanced like my old racquet.

Anyway thanks for any suggestions. I lost to him one other time in a similar many where I eventually got tired in the second and third sets from running down balls in the 100 degree heat. I may need to start playing him more aggressively and keep him on the run since he is not that fast and he did make errors when stressed on passing shots. His slice backhand is good and his forehand is very good but he makes more errors on the forehand side especially when I hit him very slow slice to mess up his timing. Thanks for any advice.

[Bungalo Bill]

You have really two choices.

1. Shorten the points by coming to net more often to preserve your energy and strength.

2. Get in better shape.

It sounds like you beat him but you dont have stamina to last. Remember tennis is played over at least TWO sets.

[bcaz]

I shouldn't offer this, being a lefty, but:

Attack his backhand relentlessly with your crosscourt forehand and break it down. A one-hander? Hah! hit high topspin to that backhand and gobble up any short balls coming your way. Or come in behind them. That's exactly what he is probably doing to you.

Tennis is like boxing. After you have him covering his backhand, running around it, etc., make him hit running forehands and watch the errors flow. If they don't, congratulations. You've just lost to the mirror (lefty) image of Pete Sampras ...

[Big D]

Try picking on his forehand. I know this sounds weird but hit mostly to his backhand to keep yourself in the point and when you give him a forehand, make sure it's one that makes him run or simply isn't easy. At 4.0 level, he likely doesn't have a good running forehand...unless as bcaz points out, he's a lefty version of Sampras

[kevhen]

Yes I am not in my summer shape although my lungs are great but legs and back muscles got tired halfway through the match. His backhand was consistent but not a major weapon so I did try to hit my topspin backhand to his backhand side as much as possible. I think I could also rally with him backhand vs his forehand crosscourt and not get hurt too bad if I drive my backhand hard enough so he can't hit the forehand winner up the line. My slice forehand is harder for me to hit all the way crosscourt with depth so I ended up hitting it up the middle or to his forehand side which is how I normally play a righty. If I took pace off of it, he struggled more with timing his hard forehand shots. He did make mistakes on his passing shots but I also made mistakes with my volleys and as the match went on his lobs got better too. After being broken a couple of games in a row, I decided to serve and volley and won that game and probably should have stuck with it for the rest of the match. I think I will beat him come summer and once I am use to my new racquet. He is a strong 4.0 and that is why he plays #1 singles for that team. His a boxing coach too so I would rather not get in a fight with him either! But I do plan to beat him eventually, he is like 15 years older than me.

[kevhen]

I did play him once before in the summer heat and won the first set before he got used to me and I ended up getting tired from chasing his hard shots again. Most people I can play defense without getting tired, but he pushes me to my limit. Maybe my body tires more than usual from trying to deflect all his little mental mind games he tries to throw in. I need to stay both mentally and physically strong when playing him and maybe get him on the run more since he really isn't that fast. Short angles worked well against him, but I started forcing that too much and going for too many dropshots as well.