Lisa Raymond Interview: Tennis Hall of Fame, Chip & Charge, and Adjusting to Different Partners

This is an interview with former World No. 1 doubles player, 11-time Grand Slam champion, and the holder of the most doubles wins in WTA history, Lisa Raymond.

I spoke with Lisa about her career, what she’s doing now, and all things doubles.

In this conversation we talk about:

• The importance of college tennis for her career & her opinion on if players should go pro or to college at 18.
• Her Tennis Hall of Fame nomination
• How to play with different partners – including playing with weak partners.
• A ton of doubles strategy like how to execute the chip & charge, the serve & volley, & more tactics you can use to improve your game.

You will also hear how she got into tennis, how she’s seen the game change over the last 20 years, and of course, what we can do to make doubles more popular.

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Interview Notes from this Podcast

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• Follow Lisa: Twitter | Instagram
• HOF Nomination
  • She recently received her third nomination for the Hall of Fame, which she is very honored to have the chance to be in.
  • For more information on the process and the ballot, check out their website.
• College Tennis
  • Lisa played tennis at the University of Florida where she won the NCAA singles title in 1992 & 93.
  • She enjoyed her time playing under coach Andy Brandi and feels like college tennis competition can be cyclical.
  • She thinks it’s a personal choice to go to college or turn pro, as the player she is currently coaching, Allie Kiick, went pro immediately.
• Playing with Different Partners
  • Throughout her career, Lisa played with Rennae Stubbs, Lindsay Davenport, Martina Navratilova, Sam Stosur, Leander Paes, Mike Bryan, and many other great doubles players.
  • With each partner, she had a different relationship but managed to find ways to work well with each.
  • With Sam, she had to work hard to get their games to work together and they eventually began succeeding not long after they considered separating.
• How to Improve Net Play
  • She spent lots of time practicing at the net, drilling movements with crossing, and live ball scenarios.
  • Lisa practiced reflex volleys with someone hitting serves from the opposite service line.
  • Practicing putting volleys away more will help players finish points.
• Biggest Strength
  • She played with a lot of great players and was able to just be solid all-around.
  • Lisa had a good first volley, a great chip & charge, and there were very few weaknesses in her game for her opponents to attack.
• How the Game is Evolving
  • When she started, players like Gigi Fernandez, Martina Navratilova, Natasha Zvereva, Helena Sukova, Jana Novotna, and more were dominant.
    • Related Podcast: Gigi Fernandez Interview
  • Teams like Virginia Ruano Pascual and Paola Suarez haven’t gotten enough credit for bringing the baseline game to doubles.
  • The lob has become more prevalent, it has become a more physical sport, and she found that she had to improve her first volley and forehand.
  • Players like Taylor Townsend and Luisa Stefani are really the only players left who serve and volley often.
  • Players like Veronika Kudermetova who stay back and scare opponents from poaching are more common.
• Your Strength vs. Opponents’ Weakness
  • She believes you should play to your strengths and impose your will on the opponent.
  • The current best doubles team in the world, Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova, do this very well.
    • Related Podcast: Barbora Krejcikova & Katerina Siniakova Interview
  • Previously, teams like Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci also didn’t change their style for different opponents.
  • This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be willing to make adjustments and some weaker teams may need to adjust often.
• Favorite Position
  • Her favorite place to be on the doubles court is serving because she feels like she has the most control.
• How to Play with a Weaker Partner
  • When playing with a weaker partner, it’s important to find out what they do well and try to put them in those situations.
  • You also have to be willing to take more risks and try to touch more balls.
• Handling Pressure
  • When it comes to super tiebreaks, she prefers to be very aggressive.
  • She agrees with Rajeev Ram who said he would rather get rid of no ad than super tiebreaks if he could only get rid of one.
    • Related Podcast: Rajeev Ram Interview
• Return Strategy
  • She prefers to knife the slice to keep it low and not give the opponent any angles when she is coming to the net.
  • If she felt like the opponent was reading her slices, she would begin to hit more chip lobs.
  • She believes that depth isn’t as important as people think and that you should vary depth often. Todd Woodbridge was a great example of that.
• Mixed Doubles
  • She made very few strategic changes for mixed doubles and really enjoyed the competition.
  • If anything, she would give up more middle volleys and allow her male partners to cross more.
• Favorite Doubles Drills
  • She likes to do a lot of 2 on 1 practice drills for doubles. She also enjoys doing live ball crossing drills.
• Favorites
  • Tennis Book: Winning Ugly by Brad Gilbert
  • Non-tennis Book: The 7 Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid & The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
  • Tournament: Philadelphia Open, Indian Wells, & San Diego Open