It was a matter of time before it passed, but that doesn’t make the moment any less historic. For the first time since the introduction of the ATP rankings on August 23, 1973, with Ilie Nastase as number one and with a one-handed backhand, there had never been a lack of a tennis player with that profile in the world’s top 10.
The presence of Alex de Minaur in the final of the Open 500 in Rotterdam and that of Taylor Fritz in the semifinals of Delray Beach It caused Stefanos Tsitsipas, tenth on the lists, to fall one position. The Greek remained in privileged positions since he entered them on March 4, 2019. It’s been almost five years.
Tsitsipas returns to a Masters 1000 semi-final six months later
Players with one-handed backhands have become a clearly endangered species. Just there are ten among the top 100: Tsitsipas, Lorenzo Musetti, Daniel Evans, Grigor Dimitrov, Christopher Eubanks, Stan Wawrinka, Daniel Altmaier, Christopher O’Connell, Dusan Lajovic and Dominic Thiem. Veteran Richard Gasquet has fallen off that list.
Wawrinka, probably with one of the best backhands of all time on hand, justifies the absence of a professional with those characteristics in the ‘top10’ for the first time: “The reality is that for years we were lucky to have Federer among the best. I also hit the backhand with two hands until I switched to one hand at age 11. That now we have run out of ‘top10’ does not mean that we do not have good players with that style“. Asked if he would have his daughter play with the one-handed backhand, Stan responds that “I don’t have an answer because my daughter doesn’t play tennis.”
Return to Los Cabos
Tsitsipas, who has not played since the Australian Open, returns to competition this week at the Los Cabos Open where he cannot score points as current champion. Also present in the draw is De Minaur, the tennis player who has relegated him to eleventh place in the rankings and whom he defeated in the final of the 2023 edition.
2024-02-19 08:27:05
#lucky #Federer
