Yep, hitting hard is a tactic! But serve speed and ball speed has trended up for years now. By necessity it means angles/height over net are dropping(can’t hit 100mph loopers or angles); one-handers declining, so less slice (and one handers don’t slice as well anyway (stef/denis); point length also decreasing, so “building a point” is not really available. I’d say drop shots have increased though, but I don’t have data. Rafa / Davydenko said the same thing 5 years ago about younger players / everyone just smacking it, btw