Peak Thiem or peak Almagro backhand?

Which backhand is better

  • Almagro

    Votes: 12 54.5%
  • Thiem

    Votes: 10 45.5%

  • Total voters
    22

zill

Legend
Take the peak Almagro backhand in the past versus the best Thiem backhands. Which is overall better? Have a vote.
 

skaj

Legend
Thiem has a solid backhand, but Almagro's one-hander I would rank right behind Gasquet and Wawrinka.

 

tennis4me

Hall of Fame
I'll take Almagro's BH. Thiem at times seems to be unbalanced while hitting his BH - maybe because he sometimes hits his BH not as in front as Almagro.
 

thomasferrett

Hall of Fame
Thiem has a solid backhand, but Almagro's one-hander I would rank right behind Gasquet and Wawrinka.


There's absolutely no way Gasquet's backhand is better than Almagro's. Almagro can just outright bully Gasquet in a bh2bh rally. Also, has no-one noticed how weak Gasquet's backhand is to high balls? Even Andy Murray moonballs his backhand when playing him - it's such a sure-fire way to get short balls. Gasquet never beaten Nadal before anywhere whereas Almagro has beaten Nadal on clay.
 

ibbi

G.O.A.T.
I'll tell you one of the hardest tests for a one hander. Nadal on Chatrier. When Almagro was 24 he took that test, and did relatively admirably. When Thiem was 24 he, um... Didn't.
 

skaj

Legend
There's absolutely no way Gasquet's backhand is better than Almagro's. Almagro can just outright bully Gasquet in a bh2bh rally. Also, has no-one noticed how weak Gasquet's backhand is to high balls? Even Andy Murray moonballs his backhand when playing him - it's such a sure-fire way to get short balls. Gasquet never beaten Nadal before anywhere whereas Almagro has beaten Nadal on clay.

I understand that you think Nicolas' is better than Richard's, but saying that "there's absolutely no way Gasquet's backhand is better than Almagro's" is an exaggerated reaction. I don't see how Almagro can "bully" Gasquet in backhand to backhand rally, and even if it is "weak to high balls" that doesn't make it a lesser backhand overall. The head to head stat doesn't seem relevant here.
 

Meles

Bionic Poster
Thiem for sheer velocity at times. Is there a harder one-hander? (Well Shapo comes to mind.)
 

Yoneyama

Hall of Fame

Some unreal Almagro 1hbh ownage in this video.

Wawrinka > Federer/Almagro > Thiem > Gasquet/Tsitsipas.

Thats how I rate the more popular 1 handers. Gasquet's is amazing no doubt and he can do some absurd angles with it, but more often than not his just putting in a conservative overly topspun ball without a great deal of pace.
 

Yoneyama

Hall of Fame
Where is Almagro these days anyway? Haven't heard anything about him lately.

Never came back from those injuries vs Delpo as far as I know.

Shall has one of the worse one handers out there. Only slightly better than dimitrov.

Shapo I would rate above Dimitrov. Both make soooo many errors but Dimitrov probably makes more and his backhand is just less good. At least Dimitrov can slice though.
 

skaj

Legend

Some unreal Almagro 1hbh ownage in this video.

Wawrinka > Federer/Almagro > Thiem > Gasquet/Tsitsipas.

Thats how I rate the more popular 1 handers. Gasquet's is amazing no doubt and he can do some absurd angles with it, but more often than not his just putting in a conservative overly topspun ball without a great deal of pace.

He is actually mixing accurate tricky topspin, angles, massive pace, flat sometimes, plus a solid slice, all very effectively.

Saying that Wawrinka's or even Almagro's backhands are better is a matter of opinion, ranking Federer and Thiem higher than Gasquet is just silly.
 

Meles

Bionic Poster
Shall has one of the worse one handers out there. Only slightly better than dimitrov.
Shall this year has been nuking it for winners quite impressively (two of these appear to be back to back points:eek:):

That's the rap on shall
 

Flash O'Groove

Hall of Fame

Some unreal Almagro 1hbh ownage in this video.

Wawrinka > Federer/Almagro > Thiem > Gasquet/Tsitsipas.

Thats how I rate the more popular 1 handers. Gasquet's is amazing no doubt and he can do some absurd angles with it, but more often than not his just putting in a conservative overly topspun ball without a great deal of pace.

Hum I kind of agree but at the same time, with the power of his serve, forehand and backhand, how come Almagrp didn't have more success? Because of errors as pressure mounted.

Gasquet is much more prudent with his shots. Neither his serve nor forehand can match peak Almagro, yet he has had much more success. His shots are reliable while Almagro was peaks and valleys in the same match.
 
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