Serve plus one tactic is most often in the context of first serve made, then put away on the first ground stroke. Arguably, a more important and relevent tactic is the serve plus one on the second serve. A players ability to defend their second serve can very well determine the outcome of the match.
In this example, I look at the 2018 NCAA singles champion, Petros Chrysochos demonstrating the perfect technique of defending the second serve. In this semi-final match, Petros will use his right foot to push back to a neutral position after he lands in the court from the serve, then as he moves laterally and behind the baseline to defend a deep cross-court return, he is able to land his right foot and create wrist/racquet loading quickly to play a first ball back heavy cross court.
The four key points:
- Gaining balancing and pushing off with the right foot after the serve to a neutral position
- Efficient movement laterally and back to defend the deep cross-court return and landing that right foot to pivot off of
- Short and quick wrist and racquet loading to get the strings to the cross-court target
- Good recovery and balance to set up the run around forehand, inside-in for the winner
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