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🇵🇾 Paraguay /Sports

The US Open witnesses the twilight of the one-handed backhand

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Outcome reported
  • Stefanos Tsitsipas’s US Open exit left no one-handed backhand player in the semifinals of any Grand Slam for the first time in the sport’s 150-year history.
  • Only five men in the top 100 and four women in the top 100 regularly use the shot.
  • Players say the two-handed backhand offers greater control and strength in modern tennis, although Tsitsipas called the decline of the one-hander a loss of tennis richness.

Stefanos Tsitsipas sent a one-handed backhand too long on match point against Ben Shelton, an image that captured more than the Greek player’s elimination from the US Open. It symbolized the fading presence of one of tennis’s most iconic shots.

Tsitsipas had been the last major standard-bearer for the stroke. With his departure in the New York round of 16, no player using a one-handed backhand reached the semifinals at any of the four Grand Slam tournaments for the first time in the sport’s 150-year history. Spectators had admired the technique since Wimbledon’s first edition in 1877, when it was the only backhand in use.

We are like dinosaurs that are going extinct.

· Stefanos TsitsipasTsitsipas described the dwindling number of elite players who still use a one-handed backhand.

The shot once featured prominently in the games of John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl in the 1980s, Pete Sampras and Stefan Edberg in the 1990s, and Gustavo Kuerten and Roger Federer later on. Federer, in particular, elevated the stroke into an art form. A small group of players inspired by the Swiss great still uses it, but they have become clear exceptions.

It is not that I have feelings about it, but it is a fact.

· Stefanos TsitsipasHe reflected on the sharp decline of the stroke without presenting it as a personal grievance.

Among men in the top 100, only Lorenzo Musetti, Denis Shapovalov, Tsitsipas, Daniel Altmaier and Aleksandar Kovacevic regularly rely on the one-hander. Among women, the players listed are Diane Parry, Lilli Tagger, Viktorija Golubic and Tatjana Maria. Musetti came close to preserving the shot’s honor this season, but an injury forced him to retire from his Australian Open quarterfinal against Novak Djokovic while leading by two sets.

Tsitsipas described the players who remain loyal to the stroke as “dinosaurs that are going extinct.” He said the share of players using a one-handed backhand had fallen from an estimated 97% or 98% in the 1950s to roughly 2% or 3% today. The shift is generally linked to faster tennis and changes in court surfaces, which demand more control and strength from the racket. “Realistically, the two-handed backhand offers an advantage in modern tennis,” Musetti said.

Realistically, the two-handed backhand offers an advantage in modern tennis.

· Lorenzo MusettiMusetti acknowledged why the two-handed stroke has become dominant.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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