Postgraduate student E.A. Yushmanov¹
Dr. Hab., Professor G.V. Barchukova^1
1The Russian University of Sport «GTSOLIFK», Moscow

Keywords: the strongest tennis players, serve hit zones, first and second serves, tactics of serving.

Introduction. In tennis, the athlete who serves first always has some tactical advantage. The first and second serves of professional tennis players have different tactical features. The tennis player directs the first serve close to the lines at high speed to immediately win a point or create an opportunity to attack. The player performs the second serve reliably with low speed, but with strong rotation, which complicates the conditions for the attacker to perform an attacking strike [2, 3].
The purpose of the study is to determine the volume of hits by zones among the strongest tennis players and, on this basis, to offer recommendations on the tactics of serving.
Methodology and organization of the study. One of the parameters of the analysis of serve tactics in tennis is the hit zone [1]. The hit zones of the first and second serves of the 10 leading tennis players of the Association Tennis Professionals (ATP) rating were analyzed. Statistical data are collected from the official ATP website [4]. The first and second squares of the feed were divided into three equal zones: zone 1 (located closer to the side line of the square); zone 2 (middle of the square); zone 3 (closer to the center line of the square).
The results of the study and their discussion. The analysis of the tactics of serving revealed that the strongest tennis players, as a rule, direct the first serve to zones 1 and 3 and extremely rarely to zone 2. At the same time, almost the same distribution of hits in zones 1 and 3 was established. This is due to the fact that serving close to the sidelines contributes to the fact that the receiver will not get the ball or will respond with a convenient blow to attack the pitcher. This is due to the fact that serving close to the sidelines contributes to the fact that the receiver will not get the ball or will respond with a convenient blow to attack the pitcher.
It was found that on the second serve in the first square, the strongest tennis players direct the ball more into zones 2 and 3 than into zone 1. At the same time, in the second square, players perform more serves into zones 2 and 1 than into zone 3. This is due to the fact that the pitchers direct the ball to the receiver specifically for a backhand, because this kick is less effective for many players than a forehand.
Conclusions. As a result of the analysis of the tactics of serving by the strongest tennis players, the most frequently used areas of hitting serves have been identified, which are associated with the tactics of playing the game and, above all, with the construction of tactical combinations of playing on their serves, since the further playing actions of the tennis player and how the point draw will continue depend on the zone of hitting the serve. The results obtained in the course of the study can be used in building the tactics of playing tennis on your own serves.

Literature

1. Godik M.A. Integrated control in sports games / M.A. Godik, A.P. Skorodumova. ‒ M.: Soviet sport, 2010. ‒ 336 p.
2. Golenko V.A. Experimental substantiation of the method of improving the serve in modern tennis: dissertation of the Candidate of pedagogical Sciences / V.A. Golenko. – M., 1973. – 164 p.
3. Ivanova, T.S. The path to mastery: organizational and methodological foundations of training young tennis players / T.S. Ivanova. – M.: Insoft, 1993. – 145 p.
4. Association Tennis Professionals [website]. URL: https://www.atptour.com/en / (accessed on 11/19/2022).