The Australian Open once again got the tennis year off to a great start and whetted out appetite for the forthcoming season. The master they call Roger Federer once again lifted that famous trophy, sending out a warning to all his opponents that he’s still the man to beat.

There again, it’s still very early in the season, and way too early to write anyone off yet. Look at the surprises last year threw up, a prime example being Juan Martin Del Potro winning the US Open title by beating Federer in the final.

Melanie Oudin, the 18 year old American, had a terrific 2009 and could really break through this year. Reaching the semi final in the US Open was the highlight of last year, who’s to say she won’t do even better this year?

On the women’s tour there is the young American Melanie Oudin, she as the surprise package at the 2009 US Open by beating some very big names to reach the semi final stage.

A young man with the aspirations to take Federer’s crown is Marin Cilic. A top ten player at only 21, he has started this year with 15 wins and only 1 loss. Watch out for him this year to really rattle the top players. The depth of his game at this young age is staggering, and he can only get better.

Nikolay Davydenko is no newcomer, but at 28 seems to be finally getting the recognition he deserves as a great player. In their last three meetings he has beaten Federer twice, which will no doubt be a thorn in Federer’s size.

The next player has been around for quite a while but is enjoying a great resurgence in his career. 28 year old Nikolay Davydenko is in the form of his life and has risen to #6 in the world.

Finally these are behind him and he is enjoying his tennis again. Currently ranked no.6, his recent form against Federer in particular has been very impressive. On form both physically and mentally, watch out for some great results from Davydenko in the coming year.

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Commonly, your level and style of play effects your need to restring your tennis racket. If you practice and play with the same extraordinary spin and power as the elite college players or tennis professionals, you will restring more often than regular juniors or social players. Prevalence of your practice and competition play will also effect the frequency of your restringing.

Breaking a string is the number one reason why most juniors and social players get a restring. Their stings wear thin overtime and without much warning they snap when least expected.

For the professionals and elite college players the main reason for a restrings lies in their quest for perfection and need for consistent performance. Due to their construction, tennis strings lose their tension overtime. This loss of tension tends to reduce the stiffness of your racket string bed and inadvertently increase its power. An increase in power may lead to more errors. Not what your average or top professional wants or needs when doing battle.

A Tennis professional or elite college player, will usually have their rackets restrung before every practice and match. Many professionals will have as many as twenty rackets freshly strung ready for practice and play. Venus Williams of the USA has been known to have up to 10 freshly strung rackets, available for practice alone.

Restringing your rackets can be a very expensive affair. Nylon strings will cost from $25 a set, but some special strings can be as much as $90. This cost prohibits most social or junior players restringing frequently. Professionals and college players will generally have a string sponsor who picks up their bill.

If you can afford to restring before every match or practice, your game will benefit and most probably improve. However for most tennis enthusiasts, restringing will be limited to as often as can be afforded or on breaking a string.

Consider buying your own stringing machine and string if you want a more consistent response from your racket. Experimenting with different strings as you learn to become a competent stringer can be a bit of fun.

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One of the many definitions of insanity is that you do the same thing again and again but want a different outcome each time; this would also apply to playing tennis.

Playing tennis is very strategic, and if you find your self losing in quite spectacular fashion, is it time to change your tactics.

So why don’t people change their style of play to give themselves a better chance? You know that what you are doing isn’t working, so why stick to it?

A change of strategy should be included in your game plan, if something isn’t working it’s time to change it. There are players who you expect to lose to, changing tactics may surprise them and you end up the victor.

If you play from the baseline and are facing a player who plays as the net you need to play them at their own game and try to get to the net first.

These are attacking kind of players and if you take that away from them they will struggle. Forcing an attacker to defend is a great tactic that should earn you a good few points.

If your opponent is slow around the court and relies on ball placement, do everything you can to run them ragged. From the baseline make them run after the balls, in they come the net, make them have to run backwards very quickly.

Once you’ve volleyed and make them run backwards to return it, confuse them even more by playing a drop shot. By mixing it up and keeping them running they will be so exhausted they won’t even be able to think about their own strategy.

Build these strategies into your game plan, so if things go wrong and you start to fall behind, you are mentally equipped to change your tactics without having to think about it.

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There are a handful of different tennis court surfaces. Each one has its own unique set of attributes, adding an interesting element to this already exciting sport.

The most popular surface in the world at the moment is the hard court. This is typically a green or blue court with painted lines and a concrete surface. You’ve likely seen it at the US Open and many other events.

As each court type has its own unique traits, I’d like to discuss some of the nuances of hard courts and the right strategies to deploy when playing on this surface. Let’s take a look at some.

The ball moves really quickly on hard courts, and you’ll be in for a surprise if you typically play on clay courts. Those who excel in the serving department always enjoy the advantages of this surface, as fast serves will be even harder to hit back.

As far as baseline play goes, hard courts don’t really work for or against people with this strategy. This is a good thing in many regards, as it won’t ruin your chances of winning a match should you choose to stay back. Hard hitting can be an asset here.

If you’re a fast runner, this never hurts in the sport of tennis, but it won’t be something you can exploit, so to speak. Your speed will be a bigger asset on hard courts than it is on grass, but it won’t let you get to as many balls as you can on clay courts.

Still, this isn’t to say that your speed won’t be an asset during a match, because it absolutely can and will. You’re far better off as a fast runner playing here than you would be on grass, and a speedy player is certainly difficult to defeat if there are other weapons that player possesses as well.

As far as net play goes, some of the best volleyers in the world have had great success on hard courts. This is because of the fact that a serve and volley strategy is a terrific way to take full advantage of this surface.

In light of the above, develop a strategy on these courts that lends itself well to your game. Most of all, have some fun in the process.

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