“We were lucky to have Federer”

ANDIt was a matter of time, but that doesn’t make the moment any less historic. For the first time since the introduction of the ATP ranking on August 23, 1973 with Ilie Nastase. Being number one and possessing a one-handed backhand, there has never been a shortage of a tennis player with such a profile in the top ten in the world.

The presence of Alex de Minaur in the semi-finals of the Open 500 in Rotterdam and Taylor Fritz in the penultimate round of Delray Beach. As a result, Stefanos Tsitsipas, who occupies tenth place in the lists, dropped one position. The Greek has remained in a privileged position since he assumed it on March 4, 2019.

. Almost five years have passed, which translates to 237 weeks. Tsitsipas remains seventh with the longest consecutive stay in the elite.

One-handed backhand players are clearly an endangered species. Only there are ten among the top 100: Tsitsipas, Lorenzo Musetti, Daniel Evans, Grigor Dimitrov, Christopher Eubanks, Stan Wawrinka, Daniel Altmaier, Christopher O’Connell, Dusan Lajovic and Dominic Thiem. Veteran Richard Gasquet was left out of this list.

Wawrinka, who probably has one of the best backhands of all time, justifies for the first time the absence of a professional with these characteristics in the “top 10”:The reality is that over the years we have been lucky to have Federer among the best. I also threw backhands with both hands until I switched to one hand at age 11. Just because we are now out of the top 10 doesn’t mean we don’t have good players with that style.

When asked if he wants his daughter to play a one-handed backhand, Stan replies: “I don’t have an answer because my daughter doesn’t play tennis.”

Return to Los Cabos.

Tsitsipas, who has not played since the Australian Open, returns to competition this week at the Los Cabos Open where he cannot score points as the defending champion. Also in the draw is De Minaur, the tennis player who dropped him to eleventh in the rankings and whom he defeated in the final of the 2023 tournament.