Conventional wisdom has long maintained that placing your serve down the T is most effective in doubles.
There are several good reasons for this: a serve to the middle typically takes away your opponent’s angles, makes a down-the-line return more difficult, and sets up your net player for an easy poach.
But recent data from the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), drawn from doubles matches during the 2024-2026 seasons, provides new insight—and nuance—into where it’s most effective to aim first and second serves.
Will Boucek, founder of Tennis Tribe, and a doubles strategy analyst for pro tour players, analyzed thousands of WTA doubles points from the 2024-2026 seasons.
Here are the most relevant takeaways for recreational women's doubles players…
First serve placement: Wide and middle
While professional women players send first serves to the T far more often, the data shows that most first-serve points were won with wide serves, on both the deuce side (68.6% of the time) and the ad side (64.6% of the time).
The down-the-middle first serve was still effective on both sides, particularly on the deuce side, where T serves won 65.7% of the time.
Second serve placement: Wide wins again
On the deuce side, professional women won more second-serve points when placing the serve wide or to the body (typically deep to the middle of the service box).
The T-serve was almost 6% less effective than a wide serve.
On the ad side, the wide serve was again the most effective, with both middle and body serves essentially delivering the same results.
Where should a recreational player serve in doubles?
Based on his analysis, Boucek gives the following advice for women club and USTA players:
Don't assume the T serve is best. If WTA serves are more effective out wide, that trend likely continues at the recreational level, where serves and returns are generally weaker.
Test both sides early. In the first few games, try serving wide and down the T to see which side produces weaker returns from each opponent. What you find should guide your strategy for the rest of the match.
On second serves, go for depth above all else. At the club level, most players can't reliably control the placement of their second serve, but a short second serve is far more damaging than a slow one. If you can place your second serve, aim wide or to the body on both sides.
The net player's job doesn't change. Regardless of serve placement, she should be watching and reading the returner's body language and tendencies and moving accordingly.
Variety wins. The most consistent finding across all data: predictable serves are easier to return. Mixing up your serve placement and primarily using wide and T serves — even if neither is perfect — will keep the returner off balance and help you win points.
