'I hate it when that happens' is something I'm sure you've said that to yourself a million times. You hate it when your opponent keeps winning easy points off you because of your own unforced errors on return of serve, but… now it's YOUR turn to win free points off them…
The key is to test them early. If your serve is developed to the point where you can hit it specifically where you want it to go then you can do a simple testing routine by serving one serve to each of the main three areas - their forehand, backhand and body.
You can use the first service game to do this (you should do it early so you have this information for the whole match) and serve to each of those three spots - wide, middle (body serve) and down the middle. Remember, you're not trying to ace them, it just about concentration and placement and making mental notes that you have up your sleeve to use in play for the whole match.
Simply make a mental note which side is their weaker return or which return of serve they mess up most often. (Also remember the side they hit well too of course)
During your match use this information this way… don't hit to their weaker return all the time or they'll be ready for it, serve to their weaker side when you need to win the point (30-30 or deuce or game point). And for an insider tip, if you watch Federer closely he does this all the time.
The overall point is that it's really important to notice when your opponent makes an unforced error. What I mean is, instead of just having a little party in your head because it's an easy point won, you need to take a few seconds to note what shot they made the error on - then, hit to that place on the court or that side of their body, especially when you need to win a crucial point. (30-30, Deuce, and Game Points)
Happy hitting :-)
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