После перехода подачи блок остановил контрудар, даром что тот был сильным.

There are two different reasons:

• после always takes the genitive
• подачи is dependent on перехода and means something like transition/change of the serve

So the structure is:

• после
  • перехода = after the transition/change
• перехода подачи = the transition/change of the serve

That gives после перехода подачи = after the change of serve / after the serve switched sides.

This is sports language. Подача means serve, and переход подачи refers to the serve passing to the other side or changing hands.

In natural English, depending on the sport, you might think of it as:

• after the change of serve
• after the serve switched sides
• after winning back the serve

So this is not a general everyday phrase; it sounds like commentary or sports description.

Good question. In this sentence, the form is partly ambiguous.

Both блок and контрудар are:

• masculine
• singular
• inanimate

For masculine inanimate nouns, the nominative and accusative look the same. So purely by form, Russian does not clearly mark which noun is the subject and which is the object here.

What helps you understand it is:

• word order: the first noun is normally read as the subject
• meaning/context: in sports, it makes sense that the block stopped the counterattack

So the intended reading is:

• блок = subject
• контрудар = object

If someone wanted to remove the ambiguity completely, they could rephrase it.

In a sports context, блок means a block, especially the kind of defensive block you get in volleyball and similar sports.

So блок остановил контрудар means that the blocking action stopped the opposing attack or counterattack.

This is a good example of how Russian sports language often uses short, compact nouns like блок, подача, удар, контрудар.

Because the sentence presents the action as a completed result.

• останавливал would mean was stopping, used to stop, or describe the process
• остановил means stopped in the sense of successfully brought it to a halt

Here the idea is not that the block was in the process of stopping the counterattack, but that it actually did stop it. That is why the perfective остановил fits naturally.

Даром что is a concessive expression meaning:

• even though
• although
• despite the fact that

So даром что тот был сильным means even though it was strong.

It is similar in meaning to хотя, but it is more idiomatic and expressive. It can sound a bit more literary, colloquial, or stylistically marked than the plain neutral хотя.

So:

• хотя тот был сильным = neutral
• даром что тот был сильным = more colorful or emphatic

Here тот refers back to контрудар.

Russian often uses тот when the speaker wants to point back clearly to something already mentioned, especially when plain он might feel too weak or possibly ambiguous.

So тот here is roughly like:

• that one
• the latter
• it, but with extra pointing-back force

In English you would usually still just say it, but Russian can prefer тот for clarity and emphasis.

Because after быть, Russian very often uses the instrumental for the predicate adjective or noun, especially in past and future contexts.

So:

• был сильным = was strong

This instrumental form is very normal and standard.

You may also see nominative in some cases, such as был сильный, but that has a different feel and is often more colloquial or stylistically different. For a learner, был сильным is the safe, standard pattern to remember.

Not necessarily. In sports language, сильный can mean:

• strong
• powerful
• forceful
• hard to stop

So if it refers to контрудар, the idea is probably that the counterattack was powerful or dangerous, not that it had muscles, of course.

Because даром что тот был сильным is a subordinate clause introduced by a concessive connector.

Russian normally separates such clauses with a comma, just as English often separates although clauses.

So the comma marks the boundary between:

• the main clause: блок остановил контрудар
• the concessive clause: даром что тот был сильным

Yes, especially for a compact sports-style sentence.

Russian word order is flexible, but this order is natural because it presents the events in a clear sequence:

1. После перехода подачи = time/background
2. блок остановил контрудар = main event
3. даром что тот был сильным = concession

That structure is very normal:

• background first
• action second
• comment or contrast last

So the sentence sounds like something from live commentary or a written match summary.