On the Tennis Court, Lefties Can Be ‘Annoying’

“It can be difficult to find someone, but you can usually access a hitting partner provided by the tournament,” the player Caspar Ruud said.

Service returns may be the biggest challenge, but Struff said that overall, “You need to adjust your patterns to play lefties.”

Dominik Koepfer, who is a lefty, said, “What I usually do against righties doesn’t work against lefties, so I need different tactics.”

Even as they make adjustments, the players said they tried not to get too caught up in the shift. “You do have to change up your game a little, but you can’t be too frightened to play to their forehand,” Ruud said.

Berrettini said he ultimately wanted to play to his strong suits. “I try playing to the weakest stroke of the opponent, but if I want to serve to the T on the deuce side where it’s a lefty’s forehand, I’m going to trust my weapon,” he said about serving down the middle of the court where the service box lines intersect.

Denis Shapovalov, the highest-ranked men’s left-hander not named Rafa, said, “I just play my game and go for my shots, so it doesn’t really matter, lefty or righty.”

But there are lefties, then there is Nadal, and there is Nadal at Roland Garros, where he has lost only twice. Even for someone as confident as Shapovalov, that can be intimidating. “I’ve never had to play Rafa there, but I imagine it’s not too much fun,” he said.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/28/sports/tennis/left-handed-players.html