Tennis is moving forward with the times. The game has gone from being just a mental strategy or physical endurance and has used the power that technology has brought, a precision that allows players to play a millimetric game.
Roger Federer: It will be sad to see fewer and fewer players with one-handed backhands
One of the most authoritative voices to speak about this discipline is the owner of 103 professional titles, Roger Federer, who amazed the world with his exquisite game, with a one-handed backhand that is considered one of the best in history and that has gradually disappeared from the professional circuit.
“I guess a lot of it comes from coaching. It would be great to have the world number one and number two playing one-handed, which we don’t have now, so that’s not going to inspire the generation of playing one-handed backhands.
“Young players tend to look up to the best players in the world and if they see a two-handed backhand, then you think that’s the way to go, but it may not be,” the 20-time Grand Slam champion told reporters in Berlin, where a new edition of the Laver Cup is being played.
For the Basel native, change must come from the partnership between player and coach, an execution that for the former world number one is still present in the future of the game. In addition, the Swiss detailed the differences with the two-handed backhand.
“I think it’s coaches all over the world who can realize that some players play better with one hand than with two. Do you ever take one hand away? That’s the question. The coach should know that and the player should have the urgency to try it like I did.
I think the one-handed backhand still has a place in the modern game. Of course, with the two-handed backhand you can fight a lot more on the return and on defense, whereas with the one-handed backhand it can be a lot more difficult.
What I’m also seeing these days is that two-handed players have a much better slice, which I don’t think was always the case 20 years ago when I came on tour. It will be interesting to see.
“It will be sad to see fewer and fewer players with one-handed backhands,” Roger Federer said.
