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I challenge you to find a better example of a rally with great cross-courts in than this.

Peter Nicol has Jon Power on a string here, and it’s all because of his cross-court width.

Firstly Nicol plays a cross-court FH volley return of serve finding a good width that Jon Power is unable to volley. After a straight drive, Nicol is able to take a backhand volley cross-court from Power’s slightly loose straight shot. From here Power is rarely let off the hook with Nicol hitting good cross-court after good cross-court.

Of particular note is the width, almost all hitting low on the sidewall just beyond the back of the service box. He demonstrates his ability to do this from a variety of positions sometimes with a bit of hold to disrupt Power’s movement, and sometimes getting on the ball early to restrict his time.

Although no one shot actually finishes the rally for Nicol, the combined pressure applied by the quality of these shots eventually gets to Power, and he makes a rather weak error. The twisting and turning that Power does to dig these balls out of the corner will wear him down.

So whilst bearing in mind that straight drives are the most common and predominantly most useful shot to the back of the court, the cross-court can be equally effective when played well to the right place and at the right time.