Photo Study of Ana Ivanovic's Forehand

When forced to hit an especially wide and low ball on the forehand, many players now use a shot that has been dubbed the "squash shot," named not after some tasty gourd, but the shot's supposed use in the indoor game played with an extremely dead ball that's often only a few inches above the floor. The tennis "squash shot" is actually a slice, which is often the best choice in situations where the ball is wide and too low to be hit from low to high for topspin. Slice also carries the ball farther in the air; therefore, in a situation where you're just barely able to get a racquet on the ball, you have a better chance, with slice, of getting the ball back deep enough to keep your opponent from stepping in to hit an easy winner.