https://www.youtube.com/shorts/pNHJiHfIU_4

At Indian Wells in 2016, the opening point of Nadal-Djokovic was a 24-shot rally that sent the crowd wild, and had Djokovic laughing as if to say, “Could be a long day.” (And by 2016, he was thoroughly accustomed to long matches with Nadal.)

But asides from entertainment, the most important thing tennis players can get out of this point is… well, it might be the most important lesson in tennis.

Watch where Djokovic is sending the ball. Any time a shot from Nadal crosses his body, Djokovic sends the ball back crosscourt.

Crosscourt (diagonally across the court) is the safer play in tennis. You’re going over the lower part of the net, you’ve got more space to work in (the ball is covering more distance), and often, the ball has come from that same area, i.e. you’re not changing direction.

It’s much easier to hit a ball back where it came from than it is to send it into a different part of the court.

In other words, Djokovic is playing the percentages.

He only goes down the line when Nadal has hit down the line – so the ball hasn’t crossed his body.

Now watch where Nadal’s hitting. He keeps trying to change direction. Djokovic goes crosscourt, Nadal takes the more difficult option and goes down the line.

24-shot rallies aren’t typical of tennis. This isn’t a standard point. It might be the type of point that you remember, and go back to on YouTube, but it’s rare. 

In fact, the most common rally length on the pro tour is 1. A single successful shot. A serve – and done. That's the type of point you see way more often.

This is good news. Far more often than not, someone makes a mistake way before a rally gets to 24 shots. And if you apply the same principle that Djokovic did here, then there’s a great chance your opponent will be the one who misses a ball.

To dig deeper into this principle of play and others, check out Will Hamilton’s teaching on YouTube: