WIMBLEDON, England — Carlos Alcaraz marched into his third straight Wimbledon closing on Friday, using all of the instruments in his field as he beat Taylor Fritz 6-4, 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (6) to arrange a conflict with Jannik Sinner.
Along with the punishing forehands and deft drop pictures was a lesser-spotted beast, the serve-and-volley. As soon as a fixture on the grass, it is now a dying artwork.
Nevertheless it’s not lifeless.
“I’m simply serving actually good and I’m simply feeling actually snug doing serve-and-volley,” stated Alcaraz, who received 16 out of 20 serve-and-volley factors towards Fritz. “I feel I received lots of serve-and-volley [points] that I did immediately, simply not letting the opponent get into the purpose, to get the great rhythm.
“It is one thing that I’m simply doing so much. I feel on grass it’s a floor that we are able to do it extra typically. I am simply actually feeling snug doing it.”
Till the flip of the century, it was customary at Wimbledon to see a straight line of worn grass from the baseline to the service field as gamers served and volleyed, a vastly profitable tactic on a floor the place the ball stays low.
However, after complaints that the lads’s occasion had change into too boring, Wimbledon made modifications to the grass in 2002 that made the ball test, slowing it down. The balls have additionally modified over time, fluffing up greater than previously, and enhancements in racket and string expertise have made it simpler to return serve.
In 1997, the primary yr that Wimbledon saved such information, 60% of factors in males’s singles have been serve-and-volley. That whole fell rapidly within the years that adopted, falling to 10% in 2008. Between 2008 and 2024, the share ranged between 6% and 10%, and in 2025, it is simply 4%. Within the girls’s singles, 12% of factors have been serve-and-volley in 1997; in 2025, it’s simply 1%.
However whereas the times of gamers charging in after each serve could also be over, serve-and-volley is simply as profitable a tactic because it was in 1997.
Heading into the ultimate, Alcaraz has served and volleyed 11% of the time, greater than any of the opposite seven quarterfinalists at Wimbledon. He additionally has received 61 of 77 factors doing it, successful fee of 79%, effectively above the typical this yr of 67%.
Alcaraz has additionally been utilizing it more and more typically within the second week of the event. Within the quarters, he received 18 of 20 forays to the online after his serve and virtually as many towards Fritz.
Seven-time champion Novak Djokovic served and volleyed 64 occasions by his six matches, profitable 45 of them at 70%. He used the technique most of all in his semifinal defeat by Sinner, profitable 15 of 23.
Grigor Dimitrov, who pulled out injured when main world No. 1 Sinner by two units to like within the fourth spherical, received 36 of his 48 serve-and-volley factors — 75%. Ben Shelton tried it 37 occasions, profitable 26 of them, or 70%, to the approval of his father and coach, the previous professional Bryan Shelton.
Doing it in entrance of those that taught you the way 🥹
Ben Shelton is having fun with a improbable grass court docket season – and he credit his father, former skilled Bryan, as his inspiration for taking part in on the floor ♥️#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/w0DX0VZtuO
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 7, 2025
“He type of evokes the way in which that I am enjoying on grass, the way in which that I am transferring ahead, how I am chopping off angles, wanting to combine within the serve-and-volley classic fashion of tennis each on occasion,” Shelton stated about his father after his fourth-round win.
Excluding 1999 and 2000, when it dipped to 51% and 59% respectively, the serve-and-volley success fee at Wimbledon has been constant, staying between 65% and 71% yearly from 1997 to 2025.
Former world No. 1 Pat Rafter, who popped again into Wimbledon for a quick company gig final week, nonetheless thinks serve-and-volley is usually a large weapon on grass if used neatly. As does one other Australian, Jordan Thompson, who served and volleyed greater than anybody at this yr’s occasion — 31% — on his method to the final 16.
“The grass remains to be sluggish, but it surely’s grass, so not letting the ball bounce, taking it out of the air, it should pose an issue for any man,” Thompson advised reporters. “It creates so many issues. [A lot of players] would not have seen that earlier than.
“Personally, I like seeing the serve-and-volley fashion. I like seeing slices are available in. I like watching Dan Evans play. I feel that is correct tennis, and that is the way in which I need to play.
“It is good on grass. I would not say it is nice on clay or the sluggish exhausting courts that we have now. However actually, coming ahead in your phrases remains to be going to be a optimistic in case you can volley.”
