4. The backhand
I once heard a friend of mind say that the moment he hears the word ‘backhand', he immediately gets visions of Stan Wawrinka unleashing one of his dreamy one-handers, and he forgets what he's doing for a minute. I'm not exaggerating; that's actually the kind of effect the Wawrinka backhand can have on people.
That said, there's no shortage of competition in this category. Many of the players who dominated the conversation in the return of serve section are also prominent names here. Is there a correlation between the two? Does having a good backhand make you an inherently good returner? I don't think there's any statistic or theory to corroborate that, so let's put it aside for the moment.
Djokovic, Murray and Nishikori all have world-class two-handers, each of which could inspire tributes as long as the Lord of the Rings book (all three parts). Djokovic's is probably the most consistent of the three, and the way he leans into the shot while skidding along the baseline, to bunt the ball past the suddenly-clueless net-rusher, is perhaps modern tennis’ single most iconic sight.
Murray's is easily the most versatile two-hander today. He can alter the spin and angle of the shot better than anyone else, and he gets extra brownie points for his super-sharp slice backhand. Nishikori's backhand, meanwhile, is possibly the the most explosive of the three – he can change direction with the shot at will, and he's been known to get the better of even Djokovic and Murray in some of their backhand-to-backhand rallies.
Marin Cilic, Tomas Berdych and Benoit Paire have brilliant backhands too, and have earned a bulk of their career prize money through the remarkable consistency and bombast of their preferred wing.
Among the one-handers, Philipp Kohlschreiber and Nicolas Almagro deserve mention, but neither of their backhands is quite as bewitching as a Richard Gasquet special. With a disdainful backswing, a picturesque follow-through and an insane amount of spin and pace, the Gasquet one-hander probably deserves a place in a museum for the sheer spectacle it produces.
Most players run around the backhand to unload on the forehand; Gasquet frequently runs around his forehand to dispatch a short ball, with the perfectly placed backhand winner. When the Frenchman's backhand is in full flow, it is must-see tennis.
So now we come to the big question: one-hander or two-hander? The one-hander has been feared to be on the verge of extinction for a while now, and whenever we see repeat telecasts of any Federer vs Nadal match, those fears are compounded. Surfaces all across the globe have slowed down (giving the players more time to set up for the two-hander), racquet technology has made topspin (and consequently higher bounce) more pronounced, and net-rushing (which is more suited to a one-hander) has all but vanished from the game.
Yes, we all love the theatre of a perfectly timed down-the-line one-handed backhand winner; no other shot in tennis has a greater ‘wow’ factor. But it's hard to challenge the idea that a Wawrinka- or Gasquet-like backhand is destined to be more of an exception than a rule. The two-handed backhand is more practical than the one-hander and, on balance, more effective too.
And when it comes to two-handers, there's nothing more consistently devastating than Djokovic and his short-backlift, I-can-put-it-wherever-I-please version. His backhand down-the-line has probably given Nadal as many fits as Nadal's forehand has given Federer, and it is the one shot that has separated him from the rest of the pack over the last three years.
The pick: Novak Djokovic
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