Watch: Murray On Serve-and-Volley Comeback

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Watch: Murray On Serve-and-Volley Comeback

Net rushers have been Andy Murray's nemesis this season.

Canadian qualifier Vasek Pospisil, a former Wimbledon doubles champion, serve-and-volleyed selectively, including on a gutsy attack on a second serve in the tie break, stunning the world No. 1 Murray, 6-4, 7-6 (5), in his Indian Wells opener.

Watch: Pospisil Shocks Murray

Coached by Aussie doubles great Mark Woodforde, Pospisil often approached behind the slice backhand down the middle of the court limiting Murray's passing lanes.

The defeat comes a month after Mischa Zverev serve-and-volleyed relentlessly shocking the top-seeded Scot in the Australian Open fourth round.

Murray is typically a sniper on return and passing shots as he showed repelling Milos Raonic in the Wimbledon final last July.

The fact that two of his three losses this season have come to players who effectively serve-and-volleyed had Murray musing it's possible the tactic could return on a limited basis.

"I mean, I have no idea whether it will (come back)," Murray told the media in Indian Wells. "I think people have said that you can't, like, you can't play that way, but I think you can if you do it very well.

"I don't think loads of players are taught it now growing up. It's not something that's practiced a lot. But if there are guys that do it from a young age, it's definitely a game style that can be successful."

Fourteen-time Grand Slam champion Pete Sampras famously announced the serve-and-volley was extinct a few years after his retirement as slower court surfaces and advancements in racquet and string technology tilted the balance of power decidedly toward baseliners.

These days only a few Top-20 players—Roger Federer, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Richard Gasquet on grass—occasionally serve-and-volley. Former Top 20 players Feliciano Lopez and Radek Stepanek have used the tactic more frequently. Murray suggests it can make a comeback.

"You know, obviously in certain conditions or court surfaces, it's easier to do it, like on grass, obviously, and quicker hard courts," Murray said. "But there is no reason why, if you play that game style well, you can't be effective doing it at the top of the game."

Photo credit: Jared Wickerham/BNP Paribas Open

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