How To Beat Slicers

Tatjana Maria had a sensational victory at the WTA 500 tournament in London. In the Round of 32, she beats Fernandez, a former US Open finalist. The Round of 16 saw her take on Muchova, who was in the final of Roland Garros in 2023. In the quarterfinals, she took out former Wimbledon champion Rybakina. In the semifinals, she eliminated Australian Open champion Madison Keys, and in the final, she beat one of the best ball strikers on the planet, Amanda Anisimova. Tatjana Maria won this title by slicing every forehand and backhand, and many wonder how this is possible.

Technique Switch

Before I get into that, let me give credit to Tatiana Maria, who’s been on tour forever. Back in the day, she used to hit her forehand very aggressively, so the forehand slice is something she did later in her career. And also, the one-handed backhand wasn’t always there—she switched from a two-handed backhand to a one-handed backhand in 2013, which is not only super rare but also extremely difficult to do.

But what’s also interesting is that she now plays a style that’s very uncomfortable for many players, and she’s having some of the best results of her career in the late stages. The surface where this style, where you slice the forehand and the backhand, will work the best is grass because the ball will stay extremely low. It is not a surprise that Maria reached the semifinals of Wimbledon in 2022, and she will be a nightmare draw for anyone in the upcoming Wimbledon tournament.

Sharp Problems

The one thing you shouldn’t do when you play against someone who slices a lot is try to blow them off the court, because you’re going to blow yourself off the court. You’re going to lose very fast. Why is that? A slice ball is going to bounce lower. And now, when you hit the ball hard, naturally, that ball is going to have more of an upward trajectory, so you have a significant risk of spraying the ball long. Not only that, if you don’t bend your knees or find the right angles, you can also dump that ball into the net very easily.

The solution is topspin. But even here, you have to be cautious, because again—even with topspin—you’re lifting the low ball, and if you do that too fast, there’s a danger that even on a topspin ball you might spray it long.

Physicality & Net Skills

The hard lesson when you play somebody who can execute that type of game style to perfection is that you must be physically in excellent shape. Your stamina has to be sky-high, and most importantly, you must be very patient and wait for something higher that you can attack.

Many people—even in the commentary during this tournament in London, in Queen’s—were saying, “Why don’t players just come to the net?” Well, first of all, you not only have to possess the skill set to handle a low ball and then follow it into the net, but you also have to possess the skill set at the net. You’re not going to win a lot of matches if you come to the net and you don’t know how to volley well or you’re uncomfortable at the net—and that is certainly the case for many WTA players. They’re just not comfortable at the net.

Elite Opponents

You can clearly see that in the players who faced Maria this week, who are the WTA's upper elite. Not only did they have a hard time handling that low slice on grass and made a tremendous number of mistakes, but they also had a very hard time transitioning to the net and hitting volleys.

People sometimes think this person is slicing because they don’t know how to hit topspin. That is not true. Even Maria, on specific occasions when her opponent came in, would hit phenomenal topspin forehands and a topspin one-handed backhand. Remember, Maria used to predominantly rip her forehand with topspin in her early days on tour, so it’s not that she’s slicing because she doesn’t know how to hit topspin—she’s slicing because that’s her best tactic to win tennis matches.

Shot Selection

Coming to the net is a solution against slicers, but it’s much easier said than done. So, back to the game plan that you have to execute if you want to have a chance to not self-destruct against a slicer: like I said, patience is of the utmost importance. Stamina is of the utmost importance. But being opportunistic and knowing when you can go harder will be key. So, shot selection is going to be super important.

You have to be much more patient and stay calm mentally. What happens to many players who face slicers is that they’re not accustomed to the slice, and they start missing.

And in tennis, even if you’ve been playing well prior, it doesn’t matter. Once you start missing a lot of balls, you’re going to lose confidence, and you’re going to start getting tight, which is only going to lead to more mistakes. Staying calm mentally and not panicking is key when you play a slicer. You want to avoid the temptation to go hard or try to hit a winner when the ball is extremely low. You’ll get that ball in play with reduced speed and more topspin.

The Return

But what you have to do as a returner when you face a slicer is to be very aggressive on the return of serve or put them under a lot of pressure. If they’re giving you a second serve, because if you hit a very aggressive ball off a serve, now it’s going to be much more difficult for them to keep that slice low, and you can get the upper hand in the rally and get some higher balls on the return games more frequently. Then, if you take care of your service games and get a high percentage of first serves in, you’ll give yourself a great chance to beat the dreaded slicer.

Success On ATP Tour?

Could this style of slicing everything work on the ATP Tour? It is essential to mention that some players have only sliced the backhand: Dan Evans, Steve Johnson, and even, to some extent, Feliciano Lopez. And back in the 90s, there were far more players who only sliced the backhand—Emilio Sánchez.

However, their heaviness is the big difference between the WTA groundstrokes and the ATP groundstrokes. ATP players are skilled enough to put more RPMs on the ball and maintain a significant power level. And the one-handed backhand slice, which is a shot that’s low in speed—even if it’s executed to perfection—players will find a way on the ATP tour to exploit that shot far more than they do on the WTA tour.