Roger Federer, Andy Murray, and Justine Henin boasted extremely strong backhands during their playing careers.
The one-handed backhand, utilised by Federer, Henin, and Richard Gasquet, was a popular shot during the early stages of the Open Era, but has since fallen in popularity.
However, it remains an effective shot, as demonstrated by Federer and Henin’s dominance during the 21st century.
The two-handed backhand has become the dominant technique in recent times, utilised by most players on the ATP and WTA Tours.
The two-hander is used by Novak Djokovic, who Patrick Mouratoglou believes has ‘probably the best backhand of all time.’
Patrick Mouratoglou thinks Novak Djokovic ‘probably’ has the best backhand of all time
Patrick Mouratoglou is one of the most well-recognised coaches in the history of tennis due to his 10-year partnership with Serena Williams.
The 55-year-old, who worked with Serena between 2012 and 2022, most recently coached Naomi Osaka before their split in August.
After reviewing Roger Federer’s footwork on Tuesday, the Frenchman has weighed in on who he believes has the best backhand of all time.
“The best backhand, maybe in the history – the one of Novak Djokovic,” Mouratoglou said on Instagram while analysing footage of the Serb’s backhand.
“So this is practice, and I love what he works on. Two things that I speak about all the time.
“The first one is the movement forward – you see that he is not waiting for the ball, he is always stepping inside the court.
“He makes one or two steps in the direction of the ball before hitting it. So there is this constant movement towards the ball, in the direction of the ball, which we call to move up to the ball.
“What I call the magnet move, the ball comes to you, you come to the ball. Both are coming to each other. He does this incredibly well.
“The second thing I like is the transfer of his body weight, what I call the weight dispatch.
“So every time he hits the ball, you see all the body is involved and all the body is going through the ball, and you can see it because his back foot ends up at the level of his front foot.
“When I tell players to do this, I exaggerate it on purpose, and I ask them after the shot to have the back foot go in front of the front foot.
“In the case of Novak, they end up exactly aligned, but it shows a big weight dispatch, so that’s amazing.
“Those are two of the reasons why he has probably the best backhand of all time.”
How Djokovic used his backhand to combat Rafael Nadal’s forehand
Who can blame Mouratoglou for having this opinion? Djokovic’s backhand very rarely falters, and has combatted one of the most potent shots in tennis history: the Rafael Nadal forehand.
For years, Nadal was able to target Roger Federer’s backhand.
The heavy topspin on Nadal’s forehand made it difficult for Federer to deal with the shot on his one-handed backhand, and he would often be forced to hit his next shot while the ball was above head height.
Djokovic – who recently trained with British player Jacob Fearnley ahead of the Athens Open – was able to combat Nadal’s heavy topspin using his two-handed backhand, taking the ball on the rise and consequently reducing the time Nadal had the prepare between shots.
Djokovic’s extraordinary backhand helped him establish a winning record against both Nadal and Federer. Against Nadal, Djokovic boasts a 31-29 record, while against Federer, Djokovic has a 27-23 record.
