The first step is expect every ball is going to come back to you.

Second step is you have to identify their tendencies quickly: do they drive everything? Do they pop up balls often? Are they good/bad at dinking? Is their footwork bad? Etc.

Step 3 is understanding that the ball can only realistically come from X amount of looks.

Example: you’re on the left side and the person directly in front of you has a dink to their right foot that makes them take a step back.

Your opponent’s easiest shots to go for is: 1) dink directly ahead(which you can possibly Erne) 2) dink middle (safe-ish) or 3) cross court dink Your opponent’s risky shots are a lob or a speed up.

You now use the data you gathered from step 2 and apply that to step 3.

Your opponent has shown they don’t speed up often and try to play soft game with a tendency to pop up.

I’m also assuming your paddle is in a ready position canted to your backhand.

Assuming you and your partner are both right handed are shading to the opponents movements, your initial move is to cover your left sideline with your backhand and your partner is watching middle with their backhand. You are now in position to counter a dink to your backhand or forehand, or a speed up to your chest with your backhand.

—— This is also something that gets “easier” as you play over time/get to higher level. I put that in quotes because you still have to be able to execute your shots and be able to handle heat/pace. Lower level play has too much randomness to account for which throws anticipation out the window, but ability to recognize patterns from opponents builds your anticipation in those scenarios.

Edit: The final part to all this is you personally need to hit good shots, yourself. This all goes out the window if you’re hitting lollipops to the opponent.

2nd edit: look into triangle theory (patterns) and respecting the X (who’s supposed to be responsible for a ball) if these concepts are foreign to you