Alexandra Stevenson on One-Handed Backhands Disappearing, "The Courts Have Slowed Down"

Alexandra Stevenson discusses how the game has slowed down, and how the first time in ATP history, the top 10 men have not seen a one-handed backhand.

Sports are always meant to evolve. While they always celebrate a set of rules that are universal, there are athletes who come along to slow the game down or change things in a way where everyone must adapt. 

That is happening in the world of tennis, as Alexandra Stevenson explained that the ATP top 10 saw not one player perform a one-handed backhand. She discussed this on Bleav Network's Serving Aces. 

"It's the first time in the rankings that, I think it's ever, I'm pretty sure. First time ever. There has not been a one-handed backhand in the ATP top ten...Now you look at the game, the courts have slowed down. You don't see as many serve and volley players, if any. You don't see a lot of slices, backhands, if any. Roger Federer retired. He was like the Last of the Mohicans."

via Alexandra Stevenson, Serving Aces

As stated, sports are always meant to slow down. It could be that the one-handed backhand has become a bit obsolete if the game has slowed down. Federer was one of the last remaining players that relied on this move, but he retired in September of 2022. 

"Right. On the tour, one out of ten players has a one-hander. Maybe when I went on the tour on the women's side, one out of 100 had a one-hander, it got more and more rare in the nineties, and then in the late nineties, it was very rare. And also I have to say it's very hard to learn a one-hander, a backhand. And in junior tennis, a lot of the parents and coaches are all about winning at a young age and not about development.

via Alexandra Stevenson

It could be that since most players do not develop a one-handed backhand, no one has had to learn how to defend against it, making it a move that is not part of early development in tennis any longer.