page_title: Backhand
section_title: Great backhands
hierarchical_section_title: Backhand / Great backhands
caption_attribution_description: English: Serena Williams during the Family Circle Cup 2008.
context_page_description: The backhand is a tennis shot in which one swings the racquet around one's body with the back of the hand preceding the palm. Except in the phrase backhand volley, the term refers to a groundstroke. It contrasts with the other kind of groundstroke, the forehand. The term is also used in other racquet sports, and other areas where a similar motion is employed.
  The backhand is usually performed from the baseline or as an approach shot. For a right-handed player, a backhand begins with the racquet on the left side of the body, continues across the body as contact is made with the ball, and ends on the right side of the body, with the racquet over the right shoulder. The backhand can be a one-handed or two-handed stroke.
  Due to the fact that the player's dominant hand "pulls" into the shot, the backhand generally lacks the power and consistency of the forehand, and is usually considered more difficult to master. However, the two-handed backhand provides more stability and power for the shot, and is increasingly used in the modern game.
context_section_description: The player long considered to have had the best backhand of all time, amateur and professional champion Don Budge, had a very powerful one-handed stroke in the 1930s and '40s that imparted topspin onto the ball.  He used an Eastern grip, and some pictures show his thumb extended along the side of the racquet for greater support. Ken Rosewall, another amateur and professional champion noted for his one-handed backhand, also used a continental grip to hit a deadly accurate slice backhand with underspin throughout the 1950s and '60s. Connoisseurs of the game also rate Swede Henrik Sundström's one-handed backhand as technically magnificent and as powerful as many forehands, but Sundström's career was cut short by injury.
  In his 1979 autobiography, Jack Kramer devotes a page to the best tennis strokes he had ever seen.  He writes: "BACKHAND—Budge was best, with Kovacs, Rosewall and Connors in the next rank (although, as I've said, Connors' 'backhand' is really a two-handed forehand).  Just in passing, the strangest competitive stroke was the backhand that belonged to Budge Patty.  It was a weak shot, a little chip. But suddenly on match point, Patty had a fine, firm backhand.  He was a helluva match player."
  On the men's pro tour, dramatic changes have occurred since then. In the 1980s, many great players such as Stefan Edberg, Ivan Lendl, Henrik Sundström and John McEnroe were leading the charge with their one-handed versatile backhands. 
  But a new wave of players, such as Jimmy Connors, Björn Borg and Mats Wilander, started to show the world that two-handed backhands could also offer major advantages. Players could now increase the speed and control of their two-hander in key defensive shots, such as returns, passing shots and lobs. 
  Since then, many players followed this trend. Among the main ones are Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Sergi Bruguera, Marat Safin, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, David Nalbandian (owning the fastest recorded backhand at 110 mph (171 km/h)), Nikolay Davydenko, Lleyton Hewitt, Daniil Medvedev, and Gilles Simon.
  However, the one-handed backhand is still used effectively by a few players like Roger Federer, Richard Gasquet, Stan Wawrinka, Dominic Thiem, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Grigor Dimitrov, Denis Shapovalov, Pablo Cuevas, Dusan Lajovic, Dan Evans, Marco Cecchinato, Ivo Karlovic, Leonardo Mayer, Marius Copil, Tommy Robredo, Dudi Sela and Feliciano Lopez. 
  On the women's tour, Justine Henin's backhand was considered on par with the men's, with John McEnroe saying "Justine Henin has the best single-handed backhand in both the men's and women's game. Henin's backhand is described as a deadly weapon which is spontaneous, accurate and powerful. She can hit drop shots with her deadly back hand."
  Many different styles of backhand arose in the late 1980s, including Steffi Graf's exceptional sliced backhand, and Monica Seles' two-handed backhand, characterized by its rapidity of execution. 
  The two-handed backhand began to gain popularity over the one-handed backhand in the 1990s (even though there had been great tennis champions whose backhand was two-handed, Chris Evert being an example). Some of the greatest two-handed backhands of the modern game include Serena Williams, Martina Hingis, Venus Williams, Maria Sharapova, Kim Clijsters, Lindsay Davenport, Jelena Janković, Li Na, Caroline Wozniacki, Victoria Azarenka, Simona Halep and Jeļena Ostapenko. The Williams sisters and Sharapova possess double-handed backhands that are considered the best and most powerful on tour. They can damage their opponents from any corner of the court with their backhands, being able to create angles that are much more difficult to create with a one-handed backhand. Other female players are known for their use of the slice backhand. Female players known for their proficiency with this shot include Billie Jean King, Margaret Court, Virginia Wade, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Jana Novotná, Nathalie Tauziat, Justine Henin, Amélie Mauresmo, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Samantha Stosur, Francesca Schiavone, Sara Errani,
caption: Serena Williams preparing to hit a backhand.
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