With a wind blowing up and down the court, it pays best to play the first set with the wind. One gets into one’s stroke better in this way, and, on changing sides, it is easier to hit harder than to keep a constant check on one’s self to avoid hitting out of court.
In knocking up before a match, always take the court with the sun in your eyes, so that, if you lose the toss, you will be accustomed to the sun, and will not have to change from good light to bad. If you win the toss, you will feel the advantage of the light all the more.
It is now very common to change sides every game of the whole match. Should you wish to do so, do not forget to appeal before tossing, or else it can be done in the odd set only.
If you fancy yourself to be a stronger player than your opponent, it is better to change sides every game of the match, or else he may win two sets with the help of the better side, and then everything will depend on the odd set.
If you change sides every game, and are really better than he, you should be able to win every set, or, at least, three sets out of four.
If your opponent is better than yourself, on no account change sides if you can help it. Try to win two sets in the good court, and trust to luck for the odd one. There is always far more chance that the worse player will win any particular set than that he will win two in three or three in five if the conditions are equal.
In one word, if you are the better player, do all that you can to exclude luck from the game, because, if there is no luck for either side, you will probably win. If luck is to come in, no one can say who will get the best of it.
The next point to consider is the service. With duffers the service is an advantage, because the striker-out misses so many balls, or, at least, returns them weakly. With good players, I believe the service to be a decided disadvantage. On a good ground almost every service can be returned. The first service, if fast, seldom comes off; if of moderate speed, it can be returned with ease. A second service should leave the striker-out free to do what he chooses with it.
I should, therefore, always give my opponent the service if I could, unless sides were to be changed every game. In this case the service will always come from one end, and if you lose the toss you can choose from which end.