Match Pointers: How Frances Tiafoe diffused Martin Damm

NEW YORK—Martin Damm is tall. NBA tall. Players of his size typically have a jackhammer serve, and he’s lefty to boot. The 21-year-old American piles up aces with nasty angles short in the box, or firing missiles down the center line. It’s the type of serve that forces opponents to make serious adjustments in order to return with any measure of consistency.

Frances Tiafoe managed to crack the code in their encounter Wednesday afternoon on the Grandstand. It was a struggle, but by mixing court positioning, shortening his strokes and taking care of his own serve, the veteran managed just enough pressure on his return games to scratch out three breaks and take the match in four sets.

Even if you don’t face servers of Damm’s caliber, here are some tips you can use to handle an opponent with a dominant delivery:

Accept Your Lumps

When facing a huge server, it helps to have a short memory. They’re going to pump some aces—Damm struck 27—and hit a slew of unreturned serves. Don’t let it discourage you. Try to treat it like any other lost point. Take your medicine, shake it off, and get ready for the next point. If you let it turn you sour, it can bring your whole game down.

Adjust Your Positioning

Depending on where you typically stand to return serve, you may need to take at least a step or two back. This gives a split-second more time to react. If your opponent exploits the extra space to burn you with wide serves, move up to close that gap. That’s what Tiafoe did from time to time, especially on the ad side. He also mixed his return stances to give Damm different looks, which can throw off the server’s rhythm.

Abbreviate Your Technique

Forget about big swings. Get the racquet face in front of the ball to block or chip it back. Use the pace of the serve as your power source. Against really big servers, there may not even be time to adjust your grip between forehand and backhand. That’s why at the pro level, players like Tiafoe often use their volley grip and use volley technique to return the ball. Just like when they’re at net, they have little time to react, and need a universal grip and short swing to get the job done.

Aim For Big Targets

“Hit returns down the middle to limit errors and get into the rallies,” says Mark Kovacs, a high-performance coach who has worked with numerous touring pros. Kovacs suggests tightening string tension a few pounds can also help provide a little more control on the return game. Getting lots of returns back against a big server can aggravate them because you’re diminishing their biggest weapon. This can often cause them to overhit the serve in search of those precious free points, leading to more faults.

Don’t concern yourself as much with finding a weakness or the sidelines. Your main goal is to get the ball over the net, hopefully deep in the court. Even if you start off behind in the point, you’re giving yourself a chance to steal it.

Take Care of Your Serve

Tiafoe’s first serve of the match was a 98 MPH slider out wide that drew a return error. It’s not unusual for him to top 130 on his serve, but he looked to beat Damm with placement over pace. He knew once the ball was in play, he had the advantage.

If your opponent is dropping bombs, there’s a temptation to match their serving power. That often leads to inconsistency and too many second serves. Tiafoe took care of what he could control and was never broken. The more you hold, the more you put pressure on your opponent’s serve, eventually causing it to crack.