“I would be teaching a two handed topspin and a one-handed slice and volley. It practically takes a genius to hit a single-handed backhand.”
Those are the words of 18-time Grand Slam champion Martina Navratilova. If that is the prerequisite for success, perhaps that is why this majestic shot is fast becoming a dying art. In years to come it might just be consigned to the pages of history.
The three single-handed backhand musketeers—Roger Federer, 34, Stan Wawrinka, 30, and Richard Gasquet, 29—are renowned for wielding this wondrous stroke. Few however, are following in their illustrious footsteps.