The 21-year-old Russian’s intensity and tactics can teach you how to win consistently.
1. Discipline, discipline, discipline
Sharapova has a lot of interests outside tennis, from fashion to art, but she always puts tennis first. Since her early years on the tour, she has been one of the most disciplined players in the sport. On the court, she plays with incredible intensity, point after point, stroke after stroke. Sharapova is obviously a driven person, but discipline can be a learned habit, too. The best way to improve your forehand is to hit more forehands. The best way to improve your concentration in matches is to work at it. See if you can play a set at peak intensity without letting up. Then try for two sets. It takes a lot of energy to maintain your focus for that long. The more you try to do it, the more mental stamina you’ll have.
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2. Hit through the court
*Like Lindsay Davenport and Pete Sampras, Sharapova shows the value of hitting strokes that have some topspin but are still flat enough to penetrate the court (not coincidentally, all three trained with coach Robert Lansdorp when they were juniors). If you hit with too much spin, your ball will land short and sit up. If you hit too flat, you’ll have little margin for error. Somewhere in between the two is ideal. Sharapova’s ground strokes travel a safe distance above the net but land deep and keep her opponents from attacking her. This is especially important for a tall woman like Sharapova, who moves well for her size but will never be the fastest player on tour. I don’t expect your strokes to be like Sharapova’s, but you can try to hit them with the same purpose. You should hit at medium pace with some height over the net and past the service line every time (the closer to the baseline the better). Next time you’re hitting with a partner, see how many times in a row you can hit a ball past the service line. You might be surprised to find out how often your shots fall short.
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3. Serve to spots
*Sharapova doesn’t have the most explosive serve in the world, and she can get into a funk with her high toss and slow wind-up (she double faulted 43 times in four matches at this year’s French Open). When she’s serving well, though, she does a fantastic job of hitting precise spots and opening up the court for her forehand. The important thing to understand about the serve is that it doesn’t have to be a bullet. If you can serve accurately, your opponents may return your delivery, but they won’t punish it. Placement and guile are just as effective as power, sometimes more so. You don’t need a partner to work on this, just a bucket of balls and some targets.
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4. Use a combination
*Once you improve your serving accuracy, you’ll have more opportunities to use the one-two punch that Sharapova has mastered. When she hits a good serve, she doesn’t let her opponent off the hook by hitting her next shot up the middle. There’s no better time to take control of a rally than when your opponent hits an average or weak service return. Sharapova hits an aggressive second shot whenever possible. Sometimes she hits outright winners, but that shouldn’t be the goal for club players. Place your serve, hit a deep second shot into the open court, and look to put away the next shot. It’s a winning combination.
Paul Annacone is Britain’s Davis Cup coach and the head men’s coach for the Lawn Tennis Association.