One-handed backhand tradition ends as streak breaks after 149 years

Stefanos Tsitsipas in action during the US Open. (AP)

NEW DELHI: "I've got a 150-year streak to save," Stefanos Tsitsipas wrote in an X post on Saturday. The Greek tennis player tends to post hyperbole, veering from the philosophical to the absurd. But here, for a change, he was spot on. As he faced Ben Shelton in the fourth round of the US Open, he was indeed playing to keep one of tennis' biggest traditions alive. A tradition that started in 1877 at the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club culminated in a New York evening at Arthur Ashe Stadium in 2026. For the first time since Grand Slam tennis began in 1877 at Wimbledon, no man with a one-handed backhand will reach a major semi-final in a season.

At first, the one-handed backhand was the default choice. With wooden rackets, amateurs and professionals alike would employ a single-handed backhand to outfox their opponents. When the game evolved, two-handed backhands found their groove. The number of one-handed backhand players reduced, but the stroke still maintained its presence. John McEnroe, Ivan Lendl, Stefan Edberg, Pete Sampras, Gustavo Kuerten, Richard Gasquet, Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka and Dominic Thiem are some of the names that have embraced the stroke over the last four decades or more.

In 1905, when all four Slams were played, there were 16 one-handed backhanders in Grand Slam semifinals. Jump a grand hundred years to 2005, and that number had reduced to five. Federer, four times, and Mariano Puerta made up that list. Last year, that number dwindled to just one, with Lorenzo Musetti reaching the last four of the French Open. The 24-year-old Italian is the highest-ranked single-handed backhand men's player in the ATP standings. But he couldn't carry this 149-year-old legacy forward, going out in the second round of the US Open. Neither could Canada's Denis Shapovalov, World No. 48, who bowed out to Ben Shelton in the third round. Nor could 2016 US Open champion Stan Wawrinka, who was handed a late wildcard, exiting and retiring after a first-round loss. Earlier this year, Musetti could have kept that streak going in Melbourne. He was up by two sets in the quarter-final against Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open. Leading 6-4, 6-3, he injured his upper right leg and was unable to continue despite a visit from the physio.

'Like dinosaurs going extinct'

There are 19 one-handed backhanders in the ATP top-300 rankings. In 2013, that number stood at 62 across the ATP and Challenger levels. “Every single decade, we’re decreasing. We’re like dinosaurs going extinct,” said Tsitsipas, a two-time major finalist, after his second-round win over Lloyd Harris. Musetti acknowledges that the changing shape of the sport has been a key reason. “I think it is partly a consequence of the fact that, realistically, the two-handed backhand offers an advantage in modern tennis,” said Musetti, who reached major semifinals in 2024 and 2025.

I think when your coach is a one-handed tennis player, you will most likely be a one-handed tennis player too

Roger Federer

Federer, who won 20 major titles in his trophy-laden career, says the early days of a tennis player make a difference. “I think when your coach is a one-handed tennis player, you will most likely be a one-handed tennis player too,” the Swiss said before the US Open. “Nowadays, probably the coaches are mostly double-handed players, and it's just easier to teach a kid to have two hands on the backhand side. One of my kids is switching from a double-hander to a one-hander, and I just see how hard it is for him to hit it and control it.” Then there is Diane Parry. The Frenchwoman uses a two-handed backhand when returning serve before reverting to a one-hander, something that 'suits her soul'. “I thought that it might perhaps help me, because, when you think about it, it is still easier to return a fast serve with two hands,” she said during the US Open. “It does not come naturally to me, though, so it requires work, and it takes time before everything falls properly into place. But it remains an option in my game.”

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Italy's Lorenzo Musetti in action during the US Open. (AP)

Denis Shapovalov advocates for the one-hander, given the opportunity to create better angles compared with the two-handed backhand. Musetti, meanwhile, acknowledges that the two-handed backhand is "more advantageous today", even though he intends to teach it as a father or coach. “Aesthetically, yes, I would teach it. I would love for my son, or perhaps a player I coach in the future, to have a one-handed backhand. I would love to see that. “But in terms of efficiency, I think the two-handed backhand is more advantageous, especially in the modern game, with the speed at which tennis is played today,” stated the 24-year-old Italian.