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You served wide. Where is the return coming?
A wide serve produces a cross-court return. Close on that diagonal and take the first volley there.
You served wide into the side glass and you are moving in. Where should you expect the return, and where do you stand?
A wide serve produces a cross-court return. Close on that diagonal and take the first volley there.
Why
Every serve creates a most-likely reply, and the wide serve into the glass creates the narrowest one of all: a player stretched to the side wall, hitting late, can rarely change direction, so the ball comes back on the same diagonal it arrived on. Knowing that turns your run to the net into a run to a specific place, which is why serve-and-volley pairs seem to be standing wherever the ball goes.
The rest of the reasoning
They are not quick. They are informed.
What this means at your level
Beginner
Serve, then go in. Worry about where the ball is going once the habit of moving forward is automatic.
Intermediate
Take the first volley deep and cross rather than trying to finish it. You are converting the serve into net position, not into a winner.
Advanced
Pair the read with your partner. If you know the return is coming cross, your partner can take a half step towards the middle and poach it, which turns the serve into a two-shot pattern that ends the point.
Common questions
You served wide into the side glass and you are moving in. Where should you expect the return, and where do you stand?
Cross-court, back where the ball came from. A wide serve produces a cross-court return. Close on that diagonal and take the first volley there. Every serve creates a most-likely reply, and the wide serve into the glass creates the narrowest one of all: a player stretched to the side wall, hitting late, can rarely change direction, so the ball comes back on the same diagonal it arrived on. Knowing that turns your run to the net into a run to a specific place, which is why serve-and-volley pairs seem to be standing wherever the ball goes. They are not quick. They are informed.
Why not a lob over your partner?
Possible, but a player reaching for a ball off the side glass rarely has the balance to lob accurately over the far player.
What should a beginner do here?
Serve, then go in. Worry about where the ball is going once the habit of moving forward is automatic.
How does this change for an advanced player?
Pair the read with your partner. If you know the return is coming cross, your partner can take a half step towards the middle and poach it, which turns the serve into a two-shot pattern that ends the point.