Novel Translation

Match Point – Chapter 5

Chapter 5 – Serving Practice

The NCAA tennis team’s main roster consists of six singles slots, six doubles slots, and six substitute positions. Singles players often also participate in doubles matches.

In team competitions, there are a total of three doubles matches and six singles matches.

Because of this structure, even freshmen have the opportunity to compete for main roster positions.

The fall season, which ran from September to November, had just concluded. As a traditionally strong NCAA tennis team, the Bears had four players make the national singles rankings. Naturally, these four players secured spots on the main roster, including McDonald, who holds the fourth singles position.

Beyond this, four players, including Gao Wen, had their respective strengths and weaknesses. Their records and abilities are closely matched, and they will compete for the fifth and sixth singles spots.

Thus, Gao Wen’s first small goal after being reborn was to secure the sixth—no, the first singles spot.

“Mac, what do you think? Shall we start training now?”

Gao Wen eagerly rubbed his hands together and hopped toward the court like an excited deer, bouncing along enthusiastically.

McDonald was stunned. “Now? But the coaches won’t be here for a while…”

Winter training involves the entire tennis team practising together in preparation for the spring season.

However, according to NCAA regulations, weekly training time cannot exceed 20 hours to protect athletes’ professional longevity and prevent early injuries. It also ensures academic responsibilities are met.

During the off-season, weekly training time is further reduced to 9 hours, as December coincides with university finals. Before Christmas break, students must tackle heavy academic and exam workloads, an absolute priority for the NCAA.

Because of this, winter training tends to be less intense than regular training.

At the moment, the coaching staff and their teammates had not yet arrived at the training ground. Gao Wen, however, couldn’t wait and had already rushed to start training.

McDonald was utterly confused. Gao Wen had always been diligent in practice, but his current impatience was unusual. What was going on today?

Perplexed, McDonald followed him to the court and found Gao Wen already practising his serves.

In tennis, serving is a particularly unique skill because it’s the only aspect entirely under the player’s control, free from opponent interference.

Once the serve is completed, the ensuing rally becomes a dynamic exchange between players—a battle of counters, calculations, pressure, and counterattacks. Players must make split-second decisions that could change the course of the match. Both sides continuously adapt and counteract each other.

It’s truly ever-changing!

This further underscores the importance of serving. A strong serve can provide a crucial advantage in subsequent rallies.

In fact, understanding the connection between tennis and table tennis can help one better appreciate tennis as a sport.

In the 19th century, tennis was all the rage across Europe. However, due to limitations with weather and outdoor courts, the sport couldn’t always be played. British university students devised a way to bring tennis indoors by using dining tables as “courts.” They adopted similar rules with slight adjustments, creating “table tennis.”

This became what we now know as ping pong. International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) retains the original name, “Table Tennis,” even though “Ping Pong” has become a more popular term.

By understanding table tennis, one can grasp the essence of tennis.

Both sports are about the art of spin, requiring strength and explosive power, constant mental calculations, and strategic advantages established through serve placement. Early aggression in the first few exchanges often creates significant advantages. The importance of serving is self-evident.

That said, the technical execution of serving differs significantly between table tennis and tennis.

Serving in tennis involves the entire body:

Bending the knees, pushing off the ground, straightening the legs, twisting the torso, and arching the back. Then, all the energy is channelled into the racket, creating friction and a downward snap. Like cracking a whip, the racket is swung with full force.

This is a seamless motion, with power originating from the feet and transferring through a series of movements until it flows into the palm. If any link in the chain falters, the effectiveness of the serve may be compromised.

In highly competitive matches, especially in the later stages, fatigue becomes a significant factor. When leg strength diminishes, players may struggle to push off the ground effectively. Without sufficient power transfer from the legs, the serve relies solely on the arm and shoulder, leading to a noticeable drop in speed and accuracy—and potentially, consecutive errors.

Consider Andy Roddick, a top-tier superstar hailed as one of the greatest servers in tennis history. His serving technique exemplifies this principle:
His knees act like loaded springs, and his push-off and power generation are highly efficient. His body resembles a taut bow, channelling all his energy into the racket. At the moment of impact, you can even see the tennis ball visibly compressed, creating a cannon-like serve.

Because of this, training for tennis serves is incredibly intricate.

Without a ball, players focus on basic movement drills, segmented motion training, and full-action practice. Swinging an empty racket 500 times is a routine part of the process.

With a ball, these drills are repeated to deepen muscle memory, stabilizing the serving motion. Hitting 200 serves in one session is common practice.

And yet, all of this merely trains the motion itself—it doesn’t include actual gameplay scenarios.

The next phase involves practicing different serve types:

Flat serves that emphasize extreme speed,

Spin serves that focus on placement,

Slice serves that require precise technique.

The key lies in how the racket makes contact with the ball and how the wrist applies force. Even at this stage, actual gameplay scenarios haven’t begun.

After that comes placement training—practical serve drills.

The first stage divides the service box into a nine-grid pattern. Each serve must land in a specified target zone.

The second stage expands the grid into an 81-square pattern—81 smaller sections in total. The goal is to consistently land serves in the designated area.

This level of precision is nothing short of gruelling.

Thus, for elite serving specialists, 500 serves per practice session is just the baseline.

At present, since the tennis court lacks a pre-drawn nine-grid pattern, Gao Wen is simplifying the placement drill by practising against a wall. The rhythmic bang bang bang of the ball hitting the wall is especially pleasing to the ear.


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