A favorite play of any strong baseliner is to run an opponent from side to side. This strategy is meant to gradually, shot by shot, draw a foe farther and farther out of position until the court is open for a winning shot. Andre Agassi and Serena Williams use this ploy frequently and successfully.
When you feel you’re being steadily pulled out of position by a power baseliner, try what might be called a semi-lob change-up. It’s nothing more than an off-speed ground stroke hit higher over the net than usual—about 6 to 8 feet—with heavy topspin. This shot will do two things for you: First, because a power baseliner likes to engage in rallies of escalating pace until he hits a winner or you make an error, this play interrupts the baseliner’s preferred rhythm and forces him to be more patient than he would like. It also might force him to overhit and make errors. Second, if your opponent is able to adjust to this change of pace, the semi-lob still buys you extra time to recover back into the court.