Dominic Thiem remains the last player with a one-handed backhand to win a Grand Slam title.
After three near-misses in finals, Thiem finally got his hands on a major title at the 2020 US Open, overcoming Alexander Zverev in the championship match.
Since then, Stefanos Tsitsipas is the one-hander who has come the closest to clinching a Grand Slam, having reached the title bout in Paris in 2021 and again in Melbourne during 2023.
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Along with his maiden Grand Slam triumph, Thiem managed to pick up 17 tour-level titles during his career.
Despite his success with the shot, however, the retired 32-year-old does not think his one-handed backhand is among the top five in tennis history.
Dominic Thiem omits himself from top five one-handers ever
In an episode of the ‘More Than A Name‘ podcast, Thiem was asked to name his top-five one-handers of all time.
He responded: “For me, Stan [Wawrinka] is number one, Richard Gasquet number two, Roger [Federer] number three, Gaston Gaudio number four – unbelievable one-handed backhand.”
Urged to name himself, Thiem responded: “I’m not going to put myself in this; that’s not right. I’ll go with [Lorenzo] Musetti.”
Many stars have publicly stated in the past that they think Stan Wawrinka has the best one-handed backhand in history, better than Roger Federer‘s
Why do you think Stan Wawrinka was never considered to be on the same level as Andy Murray?
The 40-year-old Swiss, set to retire at the end of this season, managed to win three Grand Slam titles in an era dominated by Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
Wawrinka has claimed 16 ATP titles across his illustrious career, and has gone as high as world number three in the rankings.
Rafael Nadal used to exploit Roger Federer’s backhand
Many would name Federer as the player with the best one-handed backhand ever, and though it was very easy on the eye, the shot was actually a hindrance in his game for many years.
His great rival, Nadal, used to target Federer’s backhand, up until 2017, when the 20-time major champion started to play more aggressively with the shot, which led to a strong second win in his career.
As per Tennis 365, Nadal said of Federer: “That’s one thing he got wrong in his career: he let me repeat shots on his backhand.
“His answer was a sliced backhand, and I have a very good shot when it’s sliced. It doesn’t bother me, I like to return it, and I return it hard, I’m not uncomfortable.”
After Federer changed to a bigger racket, he began to beat Nadal more often than not in their rivalry.
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