Lorenzo Musetti is one of the few players at the top of men’s tennis who plays with a one-handed backhand.
The shot was used by several legends of the game in the past, including Roger Federer, John McEnroe, Pete Sampras, Stan Wawrinka and Martina Navratilova, but now it appears it is on its way to extinction.
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Musetti is the highest-ranked player in men’s tennis with a one-handed backhand, with the Italian currently fifth in the world.
The next-highest ranked star who utilises the shot is 33rd in the world, however: Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Wawrinka recently said Musetti’s one-handed backhand was beautiful to watch, which the 23-year-old responded to.
Lorenzo Musetti talks about the one-handed backhand
In an episode of ‘The Sit-Down‘ during the Australian Open, Musetti said: “Well, first of all, it’s an honour for me.
“Stan is probably one of the kings of the one-handed backhand. I always played the one-handed backhand since I started to play tennis when I was four.
“In my grandmother’s house with my father, he was throwing me balls, and I was playing one-handed backhand naturally.
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“And I think it’s something that really is kind of going, I mean, it seems like it is going to disappear. There are literally a few in the top hundred, unfortunately.
“I really like it, but in modern days, modern tennis, I think it’s really, really hard to compete with the one-handed backhand. But hopefully I can, as Stan said, hopefully I can keep the one-handed backhand alive.”
Lorenzo Musetti explains why he calls his playstyle ‘vintage’
Musetti has labelled his playstyle as ‘vintage’, which he explained further.
“I think playing the one-handed backhand probably defines more my game than every other shot in my background,” said the former Grand Slam semifinalist.
“But I like to mix a lot, to vary the game with the slice, with the drop shots, sometimes coming to the net. My coach always, especially when I was younger, tried to simplify my game, but with not so many results, because I’m inventing every time a lot, so I like to create on the court.
“I think vintage is nice, because it’s something old, but it’s an improvement of the old tennis style, so I like the word vintage.”
Musetti has played two tournaments this year, one of which was the Australian Open, where he was forced to retire due to injury.
He was two sets up against eventual finalist Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals, but could not continue as he was dealing with pain in his leg.
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