Last week, we looked at a few tactics that generally work well against a two-handed backhand. This week, we'll discuss what bothers the one-handers.
The single best attack against most one-handers is the high, deep ball, especially if it has heavy topspin. Your opponent will usually hit, at best, a weak reply. This will set you up for an easy put-away if you come to the net.
The one-hander's best defense against this attack is to hit your ball on the rise, but on high, topspun balls, this requires considerable skill. Most players won't hit these well on the rise, and against them, the deeper your shot, the better. You'll force them to back up too far to hit any kind of aggressive reply.
If your opponent does show some skill at hitting on the rise, try making your heavily topspun ball land several feet short of his baseline, where it will then jump up before he can intercept it. This can be risky, though. If you hit too short or too flat, you'll be the one fending off an attack.
All of the same principles can be translated from your groundstrokes to your serve, if you are capable of hitting a good kick serve. Hit it fairly deep with plenty of spin so that it jumps up high, then follow it to net if you're comfortable with serve-and-volley. Boris Becker used this tactic extremely well in his Wimbledon, Australian Open, and US Open triumphs.
