One-Handed Backhand Nearing Extinction: Federer, Wawrinka, Thiem—The Artists Who Resisted the Norm

Federer, Wawrinka, Thiem, Tsitsipas: They Mastered the One-Handed Backhand—But at What Cost?

© AFP

Arthur Millot

le 14/01/2026 à 18h00

2 min to read

Extraits - Dossiers/Enquêtes Extraits de Dossiers Federer Roger Thiem Dominic Tsitsipas Stefanos Wawrinka Stan

The Exceptions That Tried to Survive

Roger Federer made it a symbol of fluidity and variation, even if he often paid the price at Roland Garros against Nadal (the Spaniard's heavy topspin forcing the Swiss to hit his shots above shoulder height).

Stan Wawrinka, for his part, turned it into a sledgehammer, capable of dictating play even against the world's best defenders, like against Djokovic at Roland Garros in 2015 or the US Open in 2016.

Dominic Thiem and Stefanos Tsitsipas have also carried on this tradition at the highest level, each in their own way.

But these examples are more the exception than the rule.

All compensated the theoretical fragility of this stroke with extraordinary power, extreme physical preparation, and obsessive technical work.

Extreme demands that led some of the players mentioned to physical and mental breakdowns.

Dominic Thiem, for example, spoke of a severe depression after his 2020 US Open victory.

A ordeal that continued with his serious wrist injury, leading him to retire prematurely in 2024.

As for Stefanos Tsitsipas, hampered by numerous elbow problems, he is going through a tennis crisis, having dropped to No. 34 in the world.

The one-handed backhand will thus survive only thanks to singular profiles, not a structured pipeline.

Its longevity will likely depend on talents able to justify, through their success, keeping this aesthetic anomaly in an increasingly standardized tennis.

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