Radek Stepanek, the Silent Killer

Christophe Delavaut

What Stepanek does better than Djokovic, Federer, Nadal, and Murray!

Before the 2012 Davis Cup Finals held in Prague last month, not many tennis fans, except for a few diehards, had ever heard of Radek Stepanek. When you watch him play, nothing really stands out. He has no big weapons to speak of. If anything, earlier in his career he was more famous for his off-the-court romance with Martina Hingis, and his post-match win celebration of doing "the worm." His  greatest strengths are his return of serve and net play, which both are more of a benefit in doubles play rather than singles play.

Stepanek is a journeyman; a hardened veteran of 16 years on the ATP World Tour. At 33 years of age, he currently is the oldest player in the top 30 and reached a career high number 8 in singles in 2006. He has won 5 ATP singles titles and 16 ATP doubles titles. Stepanek has recently found more success than he has ever had on tour while playing doubles with the likes of doubles specialist, Leander Paes. Paes and Stepanek won Stepanek's first Grand Slam doubles title at the 2012 Australian Open and finished the year as the third best doubles team in the world. Insiders say that nobody wants to play against Stepanek because of his unconventional playing style.

So what makes his style of play so difficult to play against? He is sort of a paradox because he is a counter-puncher who likes to come in to the net. He utilizes a very unconventional style of play to maximum effectiveness. For starters, at any level, no one likes to play a counter-puncher because he or she will give you very little pace. But Stepanek takes the level of annoyance up a notch. He will suddenly go to the net, in the middle of a rally, ultimately catching his opponents off balance. He does not possess a big weapon like most top players. But he does have a weapon, a very effective one for that matter.

His weapon is not obvious. His weapon is silent. His weapon is not a stroke. His weapon has no overwhelming pace or extra spin. Stepanek's weapon is his feel for the point. He has an understanding of when his opponent is neutralized and forced to simply keep the ball in play, and how he can capitalize on the situation at that moment by coming to the net for a put-away volley.

Radek Stepanek's weapon is more about WHEN he attacks the net versus HOW he attacks the net.

Point #1

Notice how deep Stepanek is before he decides to move forward. He is well behind his own baseline in the ad-court doubles alley.

His unconventional way to approach the net is why he is so difficult to play against. Most players will typically use a more conventional tactic to approach the net by either hitting an approach shot following a short ball, serve-and-volleying, or chipping-and-charging behind a weak serve. Radek will only move forward when his opponent is faced with a neutral or defensive shot selection.

What makes this style of moving to the net even more effective is that he will move forward regardless of his own court positioning.

Radek’s style of attacking the net makes his forward movement very difficult to detected by his opponent who is struggling to keep the ball in play.

Point "2

After a long rally, as soon as Almagro shows that he is going to hit a defensive slice backhand Stepanek immediately moves forward. Notice once again his deep court position before he began moving forward.

You can see how attacking in the conventional manner will give the opponent a target. The opponent sees that the attacker is approaching the net and therefore he now can set up to attempt to hit a passing shot.

What makes this strategy so effective is Stepanek's gift is to immediately realize that his opponent will either be neutralized or limited to just get the ball back in play as soon as he has hit his own shot. His quick reaction is what makes this strategy successful. His greatest strength is his ability to anticipate his opponent's next shot. Stepanek's decision to come into the net is never about his own court positioning but more based on the assessment of how his shot will affect his opponent's upcoming shot selection. Stepanek's ability to assess the situation is a huge part of his weapon. His ability to gauge not only his own shot but also the ability to gauge if his opponent has been neutralized allows for this strategy to thrive.

This style of play is so effective because Stepanek is able detect the slightest sign of trouble from his opponent. Even if his opponent sees him coming in, his shot selection and timing are so effective that much of the time his opponent can not set up for a realistic passing shot.

Stepanek's ability to move to the net undetected by his opponent, and the ability to move forward from his baseline is his greatest weapon.

Point #3

After another long rally, notice how close Stepanek makes contact with the first volley. He is well inside the service line.

In reality Stepanek is approaching the net without a standard approach shot, and typically making his first volley 8 out of 10 times the winning volley. When approaching the net the conventional way, the first volley usually becomes the setup volley. But in the case of Stepanek, his strategy allows himself to hit his first volley much closer to the net and make his first volley, more often than not, the winning volley.

He will use this strategy at any point during a rally. It could be after a ten ball rally or immediately off of the return of serve.

Point #4

Notice Stepanek's hesitation to move forward after the return of serve. His forward movement is not immediate until he sees that Almagro is going to slice his backhand.

We should all take a page out of Stepanek's strategy to move to the net more frequently. Too often my students blame their poor net game as a reason not to come to the net. In all four videos, notice how close to the net Stepanek is hitting his first volley. The closer to the net that a player is when making ball contact, the easier the volley will become.

The real lesson we can take from Stepanek's way of attacking the net is: to be more aware of how your opponent is handling the shot you have just hit. Waiting for a short ball before you can come to the net is not the only way to attack the net. Instead, learn to read and determine your opponent’s shot limitations and you will effectively become a successful all-court player.

Shark week experts say that sharks can detect a drop of blood in the water from over half a mile away. In a way, Stepanek has the same sense as a shark. His ability to detect and act by moving forward as soon as his opponent has been wounded is shark-like! His new nickname should be Radek “the Shark" Stepanek.

Your comments are welcome. Let us know what you think about Christophe Delavaut's article by emailing us here at TennisOne.

Christophe Delavaut

tennisoxygen.com aims to enrich your knowledge of stroke production and doubles strategy thus making you a complete, confident and successful tennis player. This rich interactive web site is the brainchild of Christophe Delavaut.

Christophe holds a Professional #1 rating by both the U.S.P.T.A and the P.T.R. He is currently the Director of Tennis at the Grand Harbor Golf & Tennis in Vero Beach, Florida during the winter months and in the summer at the New Seabury Club in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. He has competed and coached at every level from juniors, collegiate and professional.