At every level of the sport, serving and volleying is shunned, and it shouldn’t be. At the very least, it is an effective secondary tactic that keeps the returner guessing about the server’s intentions and stops the returner from floating high, defensive shots back into play.

But it can also be a lot more than a secondary tactic. In July 2011, I was coaching Rajeev Ram, then ranked 272nd, when he defeated No. 59 Grigor Dimitrov, 6-4, 6-4, in the opening round in Atlanta. Ram served and volleyed 38 times in the match and won 34 of those points.

He had been told he could not serve and volley anymore, even though he was skilled at it. He recommitted to serving and volley and by July 2012, he was ranked 93rd.

Last year at Wimbledon, Sergiy Stakhovsky served and volleyed on every one of his 109 first-serve points when he upset Roger Federer in the second round. He also served and volleyed on 41 percent of his second serves, winning 69 percent of those points.

“Well, you can’t really keep up with Roger on grass on baseline rallies,” Stakhovsky said after the match. “It’s just impossible. He feels the grass. He feels the slice. He can do whatever he wants with the ball. The only tactics I have is press as hard as I can on my serve and come in as much as I can. The shorter it is, the less rhythm he got.”

Federer agreed. “He was uncomfortable to play against,” he said. “I think he served and volleyed really well. It was difficult to get into that much rhythm, clearly, against a player like that.”