We’ve seen some wonderful one hand backhands in tennis, Federer, the Lopez slice carve, Wawrinka, Haas, Hanescu (though he never gets any credit for it), etc etc but the most aesthetic one of all, for my eyes, is Grigor Dimitrov.
I think it actually flows better and photopraphs nicer than Federer’s. Dimitrov seems to have more range of motion, agility and wrist snap, if not the more explosive results.
It’s all a matter of beauty in the eye of the beholder but Dimitrov’s backhand shines the brightest and most artistically, as far as any backhand I’ve ever seen.
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Russeljones · July 2, 2014 at 3:59 pm
Hi Scoop,
nice of you to say so but, despite being Bulgarian myself, I would say the word EVER is too strong in this case. Edberg and Stich had pretter backhands (prettier to this particular beholder). I think in today’s game a good case could be made for Gasquet having a more aesthetially pleasing backhand as well. The problem with Grigor’s and Rogers (which I suspet the former’s is built on) is the difficulty with effectively meeting higher balls. Wawrinka and Almagro don’t have such problems. The aforementioned also have a considerably more muscular upper torso. Sorry for going off-topic.
Jack · July 2, 2014 at 4:22 pm
Don’t forget Henin. Unusual in the WTA to have a nice ohbh (especially for a diminutive woman).
Scoop Malinowski · July 2, 2014 at 6:53 pm
Russelljones, thanks for your comments. I love the Dimitrov backhand and have always felt it was more aesthetic than even Federer’s. I’ve seen and taken many photos of both and I favor the Dimitrov backhand photos. The others you mention of course are all beauties too but nothing compares to G Force. If I ever do a book about Dimitrov, the photo in this story is the cover 🙂
CS3 · July 3, 2014 at 9:09 am
Dimitrov is probably the most fluid & naturally artistic player to hit the tour since the Swiss Maestro he has been nicknamed after… A strong case can be made that Dimitrov has the most pleasant on the eyes backhand in the game… I feel in terms of force, Stan the Man & Nicholas Almagro have the biggest 1-handed BH weapons in the game as they can end points with their BH at any time during a rally… Being part French myself, I think Richard Gasquet’s 1-handed BH speaks for itself as the gold standard for this era! 🙂
Scoop Malinowski · July 3, 2014 at 9:23 am
CS3, They are all backhand works of art. No doubt. They all have their fine points. Interestingly I just asked on twitter to one of the world’s most renowned tennis photographers Ella Ling, who had just posted an awesome Dimitrov backhand photo, what is her all time favorite backhand…she said Dimitrov. Follow Ella Ling on twitter to see her work, she’s fantastic. @ellaling23
bjk · July 3, 2014 at 10:35 am
Dimitrov’s backhand is a good example of technique developing from one generation to next. He saw the problems with Fed’s backhand (the week return of serve, poor dtl drive) and fixed those problems.
Scoop Malinowski · July 3, 2014 at 11:40 am
bjk, Dimitrov’s backhand has to pass the Rafa test before we can say it’s superior to Federer. May look better but not sure if it plays better.
Russeljones · July 3, 2014 at 1:50 pm
bjk, poor dtl drive? Haven’t watched much peak Fed then.
Andrew Miller · July 4, 2014 at 1:56 am
Kosakowski and Henin.
Andrew Miller · July 4, 2014 at 1:56 am
And guga !
Scoop Malinowski · July 4, 2014 at 8:18 am
Kosakowski getting some very generous praise here ) Ljubicic, Sela, Robredo, Youzhny not quite )
Dan Markowitz · July 4, 2014 at 6:59 pm
Andrew,
You’ve been on Kosakowski’s band wagon for a long time. One of the best one handers in the game? The guy’s 22 and ranked 282. Have you ever seen him play live?
Andrew Miller · July 5, 2014 at 2:00 am
Dan not yet. Nice production on that side and given few u.s. players men or women since say capriati agassi and sampras seemed to know how to hit one ! Bryan bros have nifty one handers but outside of them i think kosakowski has as good a one hander as one can find in the states. It is solid though not as explosive as henin. Could be though. Henin seemed to be able to bang that shot anywhere ! Her backhand to me even better than federer etc. Loved sabatinis shot but it could buckle under stress if i remember correctly.
Patrick · July 6, 2014 at 7:55 am
I don’t get the infatuation with the “beauty” of the one-handed backhand. Andre Agassi’s backhand was a thing of beauty. Compact. No wasted motion. Like Barry Bonds’ swing.
One handed backhands are an inferior product generally, and I don’t get all the “beauty” talk.
Scoop Malinowski · July 6, 2014 at 8:11 am
I guess it’s a matter of tastes Patrick. But don’t get us wrong, there are plenty of mesmerizing two handers as well, and we have discussed it here before, like you say, Agassi, but there are many others…Marcelo Rios was effortlessly smooth and fluid and could produce astonishing angles. Safin’s was always a pleasure to watch, so mechanically perfect and more explosive. SO many…Kucera, Kafelnikov, even a guy like Santoro. But Rios is my favorite two hander.
Patrick · July 7, 2014 at 3:04 am
I prefer Rios’ forehand. I love that shot. But I loved all of his shots. His game, to me, really was art.