Musetti perfects the one-handed backhand

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And it's been since 1973, the year the ATP ranking was created, that there hasn't been a single season without at least one player in the top10 using a one-handed backhand. A trend that remains unbroken.

We can't deny that the trend is quite clear in this regard. While in the 70s it was rare to see a player using a two-handed backhand, nowadays the current trend is in a completely different direction. Players with a one-handed backhand? It's not just hard to find them within the top10, they are practically non-existent in the top one hundred. It has become the new normal within the men's circuit, although 52 years later we can still boast of always maintaining a minimum presence of the one-handed backhand in the top tier of the battle.

To understand this change in trend, we just need to go back to the past, right back to the year when the ATP ranking was founded, led for the first time by the Romanian Ilie Nastase. In that original top10, nine players used the one-handed backhand: Ilie Nastase, John Newcombe, Tom Okker, Stan Smith, Ken Rosewall, Manolo Orantes, Rod Laver, Jan Kodes , and Arthur Ashe. Who's missing? The great Jimmy Connors, as so often in his career, being the odd one out. Those were the beginnings of modern tennis until a certain Björn Borg appeared on the big stages to show the locker room that there was a much safer way to hit the backhand.

Over the course of ten years, enough time to understand where things could be headed in the future, the world top10 changed drastically. Not only in terms of names but also in playing style and in the way the backhand stroke evolved to no longer be the weak spot for all opponents. From nine, we went down to six top10 players with a one-handed backhand: John McEnroe, Ivan Lendl, Yannick Noah, Jimmy Arias, José Higueras, José-Luis Clerc, and Kevin Curren. On the other side: Jimmy Connors, Mats Wilander, and Gene Mayer.

Want to continue? Well, I can tell you it's not going to get any better for the romantics. By the end of 1993, two decades of professional ranking, how many one-handed backhand players do we find in the top10? Just five: Pete Sampras, Michael Stich, Stefan Edberg, Thomas Muster, and Cedric Pioline. Meaning that there was no longer dominance from either side, a completely balanced showdown thanks to the figures of Jim Courier, Sergi Bruguera, Andrei Medvedev, Goran Ivanisevic, and Michael Chang.

Let's jump to 2003, another ten years ahead, into a new century and there we find the balance shifted once again, but to the other side. It suffices to say that only Roger Federer and Mark Philippoussis survived that season with a one-handed backhand in the top10, pushed by a new wave of players who began to use the two-handed backhand as a fundamental, even essential weapon in their game. Andy Roddick, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Andre Agassi, Guillermo Coria, Rainer Schuettler, Carlos Moyá, David Nalbandian, Sebastian Grosjean were the responsible ones at that time for ensuring this new dynamic continued on its unstoppable course.

THE ONE-HANDED BACKHAND, IN DANGER OF EXTINCTION

In the midst of 2025, with the season's stats in hand, there are only six players with a one-handed backhand in the top100. Yes, the top100, not a typo. Lorenzo Musetti, Denis Shapovalov, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Grigor Dimitrov, Daniel Altmaier, and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard are the brave ones who can still raise their hand when asked about those who still rely on this stroke within the elite. Among them, the Italian is the only one who retains his seat among the top ten, preserving a tradition that has been around for over fifty years.

The year 2017 doesn't seem that far away, with the ATP ranking closing its season with Roger Federer, Grigor Dimitrov, Dominic Thiem, and Stan Wawrinka in the top10. Some are no longer there, others are on the brink of disappearing, and some have already turned the page on their prime. In fact, the great miracle is that this streak has been preserved despite the continuous losses we endure every season. Below, you'll see who managed to keep this tradition alive since the pandemic era.

• 2021: Tsitsipas
• 2022: Tsitsipas
• 2023: Tsitsipas
• 2024: Dimitrov
• 2025: Musetti

Given what we've seen, one doesn't have to be a visionary to understand how this movie ends. In terms of quantity, the battle has long been lost. Destiny will reveal if we can still find that diamond in the rough that will make us thrilled with impossible angles and wicked slices. Losing the one-handed backhand would be yet another step towards unifying styles, losing variety, and hence, falling into a monotonous slumber that could make more than a few fans abandon ship. Every man for himself.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Musetti protege el revés a una mano