Musetti on the difficulty of playing one-handed (backhand): "In terms of solidity, the two-handed backhand is unsurpassed".

© AFP

Elio Valotto

le 08/05/2024 à 13h09

1 min to read

Barcelone Cagliari Djokovic Madrid Monte-Carlo Musetti Navone Rome

Lorenzo Musetti is not enjoying the best period of his career. After a good tournament in Monte-Carlo, the world number 29 suffered two defeats in a row (in Barcelona and Madrid). As a result, he headed for the Challenger 175 in Cagliari, where he reached the final. Beaten by the always astonishing Mariano Navone (7-5, 6-1), the Italian nevertheless took advantage of his home stop to win a few matches (3) and ATP points (+50).

Before heading off to Rome, the 22-year-old was asked to comment on the backhand debate. Indeed, while the number of one-handed backhands is dwindling, the focus is often on Stefanos Tsitsipas and Grigor Dimitrov, the last defenders of this type of backhand in the world top 10. Musetti offered a rather surprising opinion for a player who also plays one-handed backhands: "From an aesthetic and stylistic point of view, the one-handed backhand is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful shots there is. There is no one-handed backhand (in today's tennis) that can stand up to a two-handed backhand that is half as good. [...] It's normal that we're seeing fewer and fewer of them. [...] If you play one-handed, you can vary more, but in terms of solidity, the two-handed backhand can't be beaten. It's obvious that children learn more about the two-handed backhand. If I were to teach my one-handed backhand in the future, even though I love my one-handed backhand, I'd probably teach the two-handed backhand." (comments relayed by Punto de Break).