Shapovalov: Federer has harmed me, and also the entire tennis world.

In the current tennis world, players using a one-handed backhand are few and far between, and Shapovalov’s left-handed one-hander is in a league of its own.

On February 14th, Shapovalov won against the Spanish player Fucina with scores of 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 in the ATP500 Dallas quarterfinals.

Having reached the semifinals, Shapovalov discussed his iconic left-handed one-handed backhand. While some find his backhand very stylish, he disagrees, saying, "My backhand isn’t a gift from above; it feels more like a curse, and the culprit behind this curse, or the main cause, is Federer."

Shapovalov’s statement shocked reporters. The Canadian player elaborated: "In some ways, it’s also an advantage because you can generate more power, create sharper angles, and a one-handed backhand looks cooler and more creative. But the trend in modern tennis favors a stable two-handed backhand combined with forehand power. With today’s fast pace, having an extra arm for the backhand is helpful. That’s why you rarely see players with a one-handed backhand, and the responsibility lies with Roger Federer. I grew up watching him and wanted to play like him; that’s definitely one of the main reasons I use a one-handed backhand. Many others think the same way."

Shapovalov’s words hit the heart of modern tennis. Many fans are fascinated by Federer’s backhand, admiring his ballet-like footwork paired with the stylish one-hander, where after the swing, both arms sweep behind him, resembling an angel spreading its wings.

However, this visually beautiful stroke can sometimes be all show and no substance — the biggest advantage of the one-handed backhand is the ability to hit sharper angles, but its fatal flaw is difficulty producing heavy and consistent topspin. In intense baseline rallies, the one-hander is clearly weaker compared to the two-handed backhand.

But in Federer’s generation, there were many excellent one-handed backhand players such as Haas, Courier, Robredo, and Gonzalez. The reason there were many one-handers then, I think, was because the era was transitioning from traditional to modern styles, just like how serve-and-volley players were still common then. As times have changed, baseline play dominates and net approaches are now occasional.

Nowadays, one-handed backhand players are becoming increasingly rare. Among top-ranked players, only Musetti remains a one-hander. Previously, Tsitsipas seems to have fallen into a slump, and the once-powerful one-handed hitter Wawrinka struggles more to produce his signature aggressive backhand, plus he is retiring at the end of this year.

In the wooden racket era, nearly all players used a one-handed backhand and serve-and-volley was common. Later, with the advent of carbon fiber and composite rackets, one-handed players decreased rapidly while the two-handed backhand quickly became mainstream. As the game evolved, heavy topspin became the key technique. Against fast, high-bouncing shots with heavy spin, the one-handed backhand looks weaker, while the two-hander benefits from the added arm for much greater stability.

Shapovalov was born in 1999 and grew up watching Federer play.For young players born around 2000, their childhood dream was to hit shots like Federer, especially to have a stylish one-handed backhand like his.

However, Federer is an extraordinary, uniquely talented genius. Among the Big Three, I believe Federer’s style and success are the hardest to replicate; Nadal’s physicality and style are also difficult to copy, whereas Djokovic’s game is more suitable for others to imitate.

Even Federer himself had the weakest stroke among his skills in the one-handed backhand; almost all his opponents knew the key to scoring was to relentlessly attack his backhand.

Not talking about professionals, among the amateurs I’ve encountered, very few can produce an aggressive one-handed backhand. Moreover, almost no coaches recommend learning the one-hander.

This morning, lefty one-hander Shapovalov lost 6-4, 4-6, 6-7 to lefty two-hander Shelton in the semifinals.

From his first-round exit in Brisbane at the start of the year, to a second-round loss at the Australian Open, and now his candid confession in Dallas, Shapovalov repeatedly shows us that a flashy one-handed backhand can’t "pay the bills," and having been drawn in by Federer, he clearly has no way back.(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Yun Juan Yun Shu)