The ATP ranking became official on 23rd August 1973 and during that time, 9 out of the top 10 players had one-handed backhands. But now only a handful of male players in the Top 100 play the shot, which was once the signature stroke of Rod Laver. Roger Federer was one of the most recent and perhaps the last champion of the game to play this shot effectively. But what is the real reason for the decline of the one-handed backhand shot? 

Canadian tennis pro, Hugues Laverdiere believes slowing down of the court is one the major reasons why this classical shot has really become obsolete nowadays. Here’s what he said during a podcast with ESPN tennis analyst Alexandra Stevenson.

ATP star explains the real cause for the decline of Roger Federer’s signature shot in today’s game

Nowadays tennis players are more inclined towards power-play. But according to Laverdiere courts have now become much slower. He said, “If you have slower courts, then you have higher balls, you know. If the court is slower, you get higher both. And that’s right there in the first reasons why there’s less one-hander.” He added that earlier, when the courts used to be much quicker, it helped to get through with this shot easily.

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“Because back then the courts were quicker, and then lower balls because when it’s quicker, it kind of skids on the surface. So those lower balls with one hand, or you have kind of more a giant way that you can slice at,” Laverdiere continued. The famous tennis strategist Craig O’Shannessy also believes that slower court speeds are a major contributing factor to the lack of junior one-handers today.

Justine Henin arguably had one of the greatest one-handed backhand shots in the history of women’s tennis. Even she feels, “It’s not getting popular anymore.” Henin thinks one-handed backhand is one of the most beautiful shots in tennis and to excel in that, she had to put in a lot of effort during the initial days of her career.

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However, when it comes to efficiency, Roger Federer’s OHB was a force to deal with, even for the toughest of his opponents. Who are some of the players of this era who are seen trying this classic shot on the court? There’s one Greek player in particular.

Stefanos Tsitsipas reveals the real reason behind emulating Federer’s classic shot

Stefanos Tsitsipas was the last member from the one-handed backhand group to be in the Top 10. But unfortunately for the Greek, he was dropped to the 11th spot a few weeks ago. So currently there are no such representations from the classic group in the elite list. How did Tsitsipas get used to this style? Well, he revealed that switched to the one-handed backhand at the age of 8 to emulate Roger Federer.

He further added, “I remember my second coach at the time, I remember that moment very well, he kind of made fun of me. He said, Stef, are you ever going to decide what you follow? Kind of joked that day. I took it seriously, so I said, Single-handed backhand it is.”

However, he isn’t the only one who has tried to copy Roger Federer’s style. Holger Rune had also admitted that he tried to emulate Roger Federer’s iconic shot before getting stopped by his coach. Can you name the other ATP stars from the modern era who have this classic shot in their bag?

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