Passing shot

The aim of the passing shot in tennis is to prevent the opponent from returning the ball once he/she is at the net.

Because the opponent has a shorter reaction time when they are at the net as compared to the baseline, a fast return can catch them off-guard or render them unable to react quickly enough.

Players who are adept at using pace to execute passing shots include Andre Agassi, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams.

Thus, players who can execute angled shots well are usually players who are familiar with using a lot of top-spin in their play, such as Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, who is famous for hitting half volley angled passing shots.

This is the rarest way of executing a passing shot, and has only been seen used occasionally by players such as Roger Federer.