5 TIPS TO HELP BREAK YOUR OPPONENTS SERVE

You can't win the set unless you break your opponent's serve. Here are 5 tips to help you. 

# 1 The First Game: The best opportunity can sometimes occur in your very first return game. Try to get all your returns back and hopefully, with a little bit of pressure, you can take advantage of your opponents "rustiness" 

# 2 The Keys Games: There are certain times during the set that traditionally see more breaks of serve. They are at 3 all (7th game) and 4 all (9th game). Now that you are aware of this you can apply more pressure during these games.

# 3 Loss of Focus: Your opponent can be playing great tennis and holding serve easily when suddenly a few unforced errors creep into their service game. Again, this is the time to apply more pressure.

# 4 Inside Returns: You can apply pressure by taking the return earlier. Try to take the ball inside the baseline. You don't need to hit the ball harder, simply taking it earlier will turn the pressure up enough.

# 5 Consistency: If you can consistently get lots of returns back into play your opponent may feel the need to take more risks on both the serve and during the groundstroke rally.