Eye of the Coach #88: “It’s not the end of one-handed backhand”

Patrick Mouratoglou has tipped Stefanos Tsitsipas and Grigor Dimitrov to bring the one-handed backhand back into the ATP Top 10.

After the Greek dropped down the rankings this week, none of the world’s top ten male players has the one-handed backhand in their arsenal.

But the coach says it’s nothing to worry about.

“I think definitely Grigor can come back to the top ten, he’s very close,” says Mouratoglou in the latest episode of Eye of the Coach.

“Stefanos Tsitsipas is out of the top ten for the first time in five years but he will be back, I’m sure about it.”

Mouratoglou adds that having a one-handed backhand can make it more difficult to reach the top of tennis, because it is harder to return and counterpunch in a game that often relies on big serves and speed from the baseline.

It might be more difficult – but he is quick to add that it is not impossible, pointing to the success enjoyed by Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka in recent years.

“I’m sure that there will be here and there big champions with a one-handed backhands,” he says.

KEY MOMENTS

0.00 – It’s not the end of the one-handed backhand, says Patrick Mouratoglou.
0.08 – Seeing an ATP Top 10 without a one-handed backhand shocks people.
0.21 – However, Dimitrov and Tsitsipas can both come back to the Top 10.
0.33 – Having a one-handed backhand makes it more difficult to reach the top of the game – but not impossible.
0.54 – Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka both achieved great success with a one-handed backhand.
1.19 – There will still be champions with a one-handed backhand – and there is no such thing as the end of an era. Mouratoglou points to dominant players in women’s tennis, from Martina Hingis to the Williams sisters to Justine Henin, all of whom had contrasting styles and qualities.
1.58 – Diversity in tennis means everything is possible.