5 serve and volley players in modern day tennis

Radek Stepanek

At 38, Stepanek is not only still active – but getting good results in the doubles

Not so much a full-time serve-and volleyer as an occasional one, Stepanek still uses the technique – and successfully, in both singles and doubles. The Czech ace, like most other volleyers, has found his biggest successes on the quicker grass surfaces.

That technique, on that surface, gave Stepanek some stellar results.

He has since dropped significantly in the singles rankings, but remains, at 38 years of age, in the top 100 players, perhaps because of how much grass courts have slowed down in the past few years.

But running in and playing at the net is a technique that has got the Czech strong doubles results as well.

What is the secret behind Stepanek’s proficiency, one might wonder. The Czech generates a heavy amount of topspin, which with a slower second serve gives him added time to come to the net, playing strong passing shots.

He is also proficient at playing from the baseline, and will play long rallies there – which is what he tends to do for the majority of his play now. But he is still considered one of the few strong volleyers on court, and he is effectively able to mix both techniques.