Gasquet's backhand: Is it a weapon, or just a lesser weakness?

HunterST

HunterST

Hall of Fame
Most people consider Gasquet's one handed backhand to be one of the best, if not the best, in the world. Since the one handed backhand has inherent limitations, however, I'm wondering if it is/can be as big of a weapon as a forehand.

Basically I'm asking if the Gasquet one handed backhand is a great shot for a 1hbh, or if it's a great shot relative to any ground stroke. How would it compare to other players' weapons?
 
lonux

lonux

Hall of Fame
HunterST said:
Most people consider Gasquet's one handed backhand to be one of the best, if not the best, in the world. Since the one handed backhand has inherent limitations, however, I'm wondering if it is/can be as big of a weapon as a forehand.
Click to expand...

Whut?

10 1HBH's
 
D

dominikk1985

Legend
HunterST said:
Most people consider Gasquet's one handed backhand to be one of the best, if not the best, in the world. Since the one handed backhand has inherent limitations, however, I'm wondering if it is/can be as big of a weapon as a forehand.

Basically I'm asking if the Gasquet one handed backhand is a great shot for a 1hbh, or if it's a great shot relative to any ground stroke. How would it compare to other players' weapons?
Click to expand...

I see your point. 1HBHs tend to be overrated. anyone who has a nice swing gets credited with "best BH in the game". same with federer BH back then.

Richards BH is certainly good and his strong point compared to his atrocious FH and serve, but it's not as good as novaks BH for example.

I would say that among the top10 BHs of the last decade there is only 1 1HBH (Kuerten).

Of course there were some nice one handers like federer, haas, gasquet and some others but neither of those was as good off the BH as Safin, nalbandian, nole, agassi or murray.

1HBH are overrated because they look better and are "old school". 2 handers never get credit for their strokes.

still it's a good stroke and one handers are not necessarily weak.
 
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dcdoorknob

dcdoorknob

Hall of Fame
Gasquet has been in the top 10. He'll likely be back in the top 20 after this tournament or at least darn close.

His backhand is clearly better than his forehand. He plays primarily from the back of the court. I have no idea how he could have had the success he has had thus far if his backhand was not a legit weapon. You don't win matches as a baseline player if you are only working with one groundstroke that is a relative weakness (his forehand) and another groundstroke that is "just a lesser weakness." Does not compute.

I'm not saying Gasquet's backhand is necessarily better than the best 2 handed backhands out there, but to me there is no doubt at all that it is a legitimate weapon for him and one of the better ground strokes on the tour.
 
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Nadalfan89

Nadalfan89

Hall of Fame
There is no question that Gasquet has the best backhand on tour. Would he win a cross court competition against Djokovic? No.

Is his backhand much more effective at winning matches? Yes.
 
JRstriker12

JRstriker12

Hall of Fame
HunterST said:
Most people consider Gasquet's one handed backhand to be one of the best, if not the best, in the world. Since the one handed backhand has inherent limitations, however, I'm wondering if it is/can be as big of a weapon as a forehand.

Basically I'm asking if the Gasquet one handed backhand is a great shot for a 1hbh, or if it's a great shot relative to any ground stroke. How would it compare to other players' weapons?
Click to expand...

IMHO - any shot 1hb/2hb, etc. is only as limited as the skill of the person using them. Just because you play with a 2hb doesn't make your shot superior (see my Roddick example below).

Ask Roddick how superior his two hander was against Gasquets one-hander this week. Seriously, I was puzzled to watch Roddick get into extended backhand rallies with Gasquet.

For Gasquet, his backhand tends to be his stronger side and his weapon. It certainly has a very pretty look to it, but I wouldn't rate it as one of the top backhands on tour right now as Gasquet's play is inconsistent. But if Gasquet is on, there's no doubt he can hurt alot of guys with that shot.
 
G

Gemini

Hall of Fame
The two-handed backhand has its weaknesses as well so that sort of nullifies the fact that the one-hander has weaknesses. With that being said, Gasquet's backhand is definitely a weapon.
 
K

kiteboard

Banned
he took a Roddick serve, ad side, on match point and even though he was 10' wide of the doubles alley smacked a bh winner off return for the victory against a flat footed Roddick. How many two handers could do that from that position?
 
marosmith

marosmith

Professional
I think it is as much a weapon or a greater weapon than most pros forehands- hence how he beats most of them. Against Roddick it was amazing and he his winners that only the top 20 could hit with their forehand. His backhand is better than Djokovic's backhand as well. I think many of you dont have a grasp on the sport with your assumption that the backhand is inherently weaker than the forehand and further that the 2 handed is inherently stronger than the 1 hander.
 
marosmith

marosmith

Professional
kiteboard said:
he took a Roddick serve, ad side, on match point and even though he was 10' wide of the doubles alley smacked a bh winner off return for the victory against a flat footed Roddick. How many two handers could do that from that position?
Click to expand...

No 2 hander would have hit a winner down the line on that serve other than maybe Safin in the day
 
HunterST

HunterST

Hall of Fame
RCizzle65 said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDHoR1lI1GU

LMFAO If you think that's a lesser weakness, I want to know what's a weapon if Gasquet's backhand isn't one.
Click to expand...

title was mostly just to spark interest. The question is more like will Gasquet's backhand ever be the weapon that a guy with a huge forehand will have.

Basically is the best 1hbh in the world only equivalent to a decent forehand, or could his backhand match up with Gonzo or Delpo's forehand?
 
Murrayfan31

Murrayfan31

Hall of Fame
marosmith said:
I think it is as much a weapon or a greater weapon than most pros forehands- hence how he beats most of them. Against Roddick it was amazing and he his winners that only the top 20 could hit with their forehand. His backhand is better than Djokovic's backhand as well. I think many of you dont have a grasp on the sport with your assumption that the backhand is inherently weaker than the forehand and further that the 2 handed is inherently stronger than the 1 hander.
Click to expand...
Djokovic is better on both sides. Thus why he is clearly the better player.
 
tacou

tacou

G.O.A.T.
gasquet has a decent amount of looks on his BH.
also Richie's serve is pretty big imo, just 1st serve % can get rather low
 
D

decades

Guest
it breaks down. djokovic was attacking his backhand. it sure is purdy though when he hits it right, and it's those that people here remember and has them coming here posting he has the best backhand "evah".
 
D

Deleted member 3771

Guest
Gasquet's big problem is his court positioning, he gets into the bad habit of standing too far back too often and engaging in long rallies and makes him self cover too much court, and hes not a good enough baseline mover to do this.
 
Marius_Hancu

Marius_Hancu

Talk Tennis Guru
TheNatural said:
Gasquet's big problem is his court positioning, he gets into the bad habit of standing too far back too often and engaging in long rallies and makes him self cover too much court, and hes not a good enough baseline mover to do this.
Click to expand...

Also, on the BH, his approach steps aren't fast and small enough. Sometimes he moves like a carrier.

The shot itself is a great weapon per se.
 
K

kiteboard

Banned
Too far back, he still hits winners. Footwork: small steps leading to one last big one, is what he needs to work on. Play tighter up, it's not clay. He would destroy any top female bh to bh. More kinetic potential with a 1h bh.
 
heninfan99

heninfan99

Talk Tennis Guru
It's definitely a weapon for him. How many bh winners did he hit against Roddick last week? He can seemingly place it anywhere. Tremendous control. It's truly amazing he can set it up in time against the big hitters. He's a dying breed for obvious reasons.
He has a few more weapons. Foot speed and volleying and sometimes his serve...
 
Backhanded Compliment

Backhanded Compliment

Legend
A weapon when set up properly but if the footing isnt right it isnt as good as a similar caliber 2 hander. Think of it as a weapon of intimidation, like Roddick's serve.

It is a more difficult stroke than the 2 hander because with that particular grip you need to have even better footwork... because you make contact with the ball much earlier than with other backhands. It does allow some pretty ridiculous hits but is a little streaky, that's why when Gasquet is on it rattles the other player... otherwise provides on less ideal days it less margin for error and can become a minor liability. It is a radical grip and takes a lot of mental/physical preparedness to use.
 
G

Gasquetrules

Semi-Pro
Good to see Gasquet back

A lot of people on this forum had written Gasquet off a couple years ago, claiming he would be out of the top 100 and off the tour -- and out of tennis -- before now. So it's good to see him back and moving up.

Gasquet's problem right now is his right shoulder, particularly on the serve. He plays a few matches and then the shoulder becomes painful and he can't get any power on the first serve and is forced to just spin in the shot. This happened last summer in a clay-court final against Almagro. This was supposed to be a showdown between two of the flashiest one-handed backhands in the game today. But Almagro used his powerful serve to set up his killer forehands and backhands. Gasquet was spinning in 85 mph first serves and was constantly on the defense as a result.

Gasquet had to stop play after the Australian Open because of shoulder pain and again after making the semis in Dubai. Perhaps it's time for shoulder surgery. Gasquet can serve big when he's pain free. If he could get the shoulder fixed I believe he could probably move back into the top ten. He destroyed Melzer and beat Roddick at Indian Wells... played very poorly against Fish in Miami but was still in the match most of the way.

Wawrinka has a more textbook one hander than Gasquet... so does Federer. Gasquet's is flashier and impossible to copy.
 
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