Hal v. Stice, continued: the wisdom of eating double-faults
Stice was double-faulting more than his average because he was trying to get enough on his second serve to follow it credibly to net. [...] Stice was nevertheless wise to crank the second serve and eat the occasional double-fault.
Context
The a./d.f. discipline as tactical bookkeeping. Stice's double-fault rate is up and his a./d.f. ratio is "an undistinguished .6," but deLint charts it as smart: to be a credible net-rusher you have to "crank the second serve and eat the occasional double-fault." The body deliberately courts its own failure rate because a timid second serve costs more than a few double-faults do — risk priced against reward, logged in a column.