Home / Sports / 149-Year Tennis Streak Ends: One-Handed Backhand Vanishes
149-Year Tennis Streak Ends: One-Handed Backhand Vanishes
8 Sep
Summary
- A 149-year Grand Slam streak for the one-handed backhand has ended.
- Stefanos Tsitsipas noted only 2-3% of players now use this shot.
- Modern tennis styles have narrowed, with fewer diverse playing approaches.
A historic 149-year streak in Grand Slam tennis has been broken, as the men's draw at the US Open now lacks any player featuring a one-handed backhand. Ben Shelton's recent win against Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Round of 16 marked the end of this remarkable run, which had seen at least one player with this elegant stroke reach the semi-finals every year since Wimbledon in 1877.
The one-handed backhand, famously wielded by legends like Roger Federer and John McEnroe, has steadily declined. Stefanos Tsitsipas noted that its usage has plummeted from approximately 97-98% in the 1950s to a mere 2-3% today. He expressed regret over the loss of such a classic shot.
Tsitsipas attributed this shift to a narrowing of playing styles in contemporary tennis. He observed that modern courts are slower, and the game has become more uniform, with fewer players employing diverse strategies such as serve-and-volley or different defensive tactics. This homogenization, he believes, has contributed to the diminished presence of the one-handed backhand.
