Grass-court specialist

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A grass-court specialist is a tennis player who excels on grass courts but does not perform to the same standard on hard courts, clay courts or other surfaces. The term is generally only applied to professional players on the ATP and WTA tours, rather than to average players.

A common feature of grass court specialists is their ability to serve and volley. A serve-and-volley player is at a distinct advantage on a grass court because his or her service is quickened enough to force the receiver to handle it quite defensively rather than aggressively, as can be the case on a slower surface. Their effectiveness at the net is therefore greatly improved. Grass court specialists are in direct contrast to clay court specialists, and the two differing styles (and players) generally do poorly on the other surface.

The term "grass court specialist" is used somewhat less often than "hard-court specialist" and much less often than "clay-court specialist", because fewer players meet the description.

Some examples of prominent past and present players who are frequently referred to as grass court specialists are: Boris Becker, Pat Cash, Stefan Edberg, Tim Henman, Mario Ancic, and Jana Novotna. While rarely referred to as grass court specialists, Pete Sampras, Venus Williams and current world number 1 Roger Federer have all had their best results on grass.