United Cup, Tsitsipas' outburst: "My backhand is not going anywhere"

[Winner Sinner]

Stefanos Tsitsipas experienced an unusual moment of frustration during his match against Alexander Shevchenko at the United Cup 2025. The Greek tennis player took advantage of a break to express all his disappointment with his one-handed backhand.

"My backhand is not going anywhere. I would need to put a f***ing truck behind it to get it there. It is impossible to do anything with this shot," Tsitsipas exclaimed, in a rare outburst for his frankness among professional players.

This public outburst about the weakness of one of his main shots represents an unusual moment of transparency on the tour, where players usually tend not to reveal their technical weaknesses.

 

[Shaolin]

Stefanos Tsitsipas experienced an unusual moment of frustration during his match against Alexander Shevchenko at the United Cup 2025. The Greek tennis player took advantage of a break to express all his disappointment with his one-handed backhand.

"My backhand is not going anywhere. I would need to put a f***ing truck behind it to get it there. It is impossible to do anything with this shot," Tsitsipas exclaimed, in a rare outburst for his frankness among professional players.

This public outburst about the weakness of one of his main shots represents an unusual moment of transparency on the tour, where players usually tend not to reveal their technical weaknesses.

Comment plagiarized from Stan Polanski, USTA mixed doubles sectionals 2012.

 

[ND-13]

Tsitsipas, Rune, Rublev, Ruud, Berretini, Kyrgios, Shapavalov, Zverev are the 2018-23 flag bearers

 

[johnmccabe]

He should have realized it 15years ago

 

[jl809]

*2 time strong era slam finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas

 

[kangaroo1973]

Well, he was sick yesterday. Some kind of gastroenteritis, even some drugs were given to him. He is right though, that backhand ( along with Auger s ) is the worst shot on the circuit, by far

 

[tennis24x7]

Well, he was sick yesterday. Some kind of gastroenteritis, even some drugs were given to him. He is right though, that backhand ( along with Auger s ) is the worst shot on the circuit, by far

Just imagine if he had managed to win a GS with that!!

 

[kangaroo1973]

Just imagine if he had managed to win a GS with that!!

I think that his BH has regressed post 2022, shoulder injury in 23 certainly did not help either.
He needs to hire good coach who had a good backhand ( Kuerten, Edberg, Becker, Stich) and fix it, otherwise winning a slam will remain a fairy tale

 

[ND-13]

*2 time strong era slam finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas

Ruud is a 3 time finalist . Which one is better ??

 

[Mainad]

Maybe it's time for him to switch to the 2 hander?

 

[ghostofMecir]

I think that his BH has regressed post 2022, shoulder injury in 23 certainly did not help either.
He needs to hire good coach who had a good backhand ( Kuerten, Edberg, Becker, Stich) and fix it, otherwise winning a slam will remain a fairy tale

Winning a slam is a fairy tale for him—he’s not good enough. He’s lucky he played when he did to get to where he got. It’s time for the free-fall.

 

[SpinToWin]

His backhand was fine back in the day, while not a strength by any means it wasn’t as easily exploitable as it currently appears. Not sure if it’s just confidence, but all of his shots have regressed recently and it makes the mental side of hitting a backhand that much harder for him, at least that’s how it looks from the outside looking in

 

[Jonesy]

The weak wrist problem of the one hander has many solutions. But Tsitsipas has no intention of leaving his comfort zone.
Half a bevel change would lock his wrist and he would have a canon of a weapon. It would unlock the dtl shot at will as a bonus.

 

[soulkeeper]

He is probably testing new strings...he is mentioning that these new strings are like hitting with 4G...

 

[bigserving]

I really do like it when my opponents yell out what is going wrong with their game that day!

 

[langley]

He is probably testing new strings...he is mentioning that these new strings are like hitting with 4G...

bro just needs to try 4g soft or try another brand. I’m not too familiar with Wilson’s line but do they have any new school polys similar to something like head lynx tour? 4g soft is my favorite offering from Luxilon.

 

[The Aceserver]

I mean he’s not wrong. He needs more sw or something. His slices just float. Absolutely zero penetration. If he had a good slice he would be able to work it to get a forehand ala Federer, Dimitrov, Berrettini, Graf, etc.

 

[velvetsledgehammer]

Berenttini has the same problem, just too much of a shot quality difference forehand to backhand. It pretty much retired Sock. The old days, running around to hit forehands a la Courier and Moya, are over.

 

[sureshs]

Stefanos Tsitsipas experienced an unusual moment of frustration during his match against Alexander Shevchenko at the United Cup 2025. The Greek tennis player took advantage of a break to express all his disappointment with his one-handed backhand.

"My backhand is not going anywhere. I would need to put a f***ing truck behind it to get it there. It is impossible to do anything with this shot," Tsitsipas exclaimed, in a rare outburst for his frankness among professional players.

This public outburst about the weakness of one of his main shots represents an unusual moment of transparency on the tour, where players usually tend not to reveal their technical weaknesses.

1HBH does not cut it anymore.

 

[mike danny]

Much easier to blame the shot itself rather than your own shortcomings, isn't it, Stef?

 

[Move]

Well, he was sick yesterday. Some kind of gastroenteritis, even some drugs were given to him. He is right though, that backhand ( along with Auger s ) is the worst shot on the circuit, by far

Berretini BH drive says hi

 

[kangaroo1973]

Berenttini has the same problem, just too much of a shot quality difference forehand to backhand. It pretty much retired Sock. The old days, running around to hit forehands a la Courier and Moya, are over.

Lol.berrettini is hundred times better than Sock. Deep runs at every single slam. What exactly did Sock achieve in singles? Except one masters with the weakest draw in years

 

[kangaroo1973]

Berretini BH drive says hi

Berrettini s backhand spin is average. Not great not terrible, at least he can mitigate it with his excellent ( 2nd best on tour after Dimitrov imo) slice.

 

[Midaso240]

He's just given an invitation for a whole lot of players who were paying attention to do the old Nadal special - high topspin forehand to the one handed backhand

 

[Rosstour]

His backhand was fine back in the day, while not a strength by any means it wasn’t as easily exploitable as it currently appears. Not sure if it’s just confidence, but all of his shots have regressed recently and it makes the mental side of hitting a backhand that much harder for him, at least that’s how it looks from the outside looking in

Extreme grips are his downfall

 

[vokazu]

He just needs to increase his racquet's swing weight and twist weight.

 

[anarosevoli]

 

[SpinWizard]

Stefanos go watch your match against Rafa during AO 2021. See? That's how you need to hit your backhand

 

[Musterrific]

He needs to finally admit and accept the fact that he's a gatekeeper for the elite.

 

[Devilito]

1HBH does not cut it anymore.

Wrong. Tell that to Fed and Stan when they destroyed the best 2hbh players with their 1hbhs. Tell that to Pete who destroyed Andre in baseline rallies. Stef has a garbage slice and at this level tennis is massively mental. His mental game is in hell right now. His decline has nothing to do with his strokes.

 

[Devilito]

Most players have zero interest in equipment and don't understand how elevation, courts and balls effect their game. Most players are actually really stupid at analyzing their own success and what makes them a good player. This is a studied phenomenon in human psychology. You learn through repetition at a young age and play sports like leaning a language. Being fluent in English doesn't make you an English teacher. Most pro players would be terrible coaches and are terrible an analyzing their own game.

 

[Rosstour]

Wrong. Tell that to Fed and Stan when they destroyed the best 2hbh players with their 1hbhs. Tell that to Pete who destroyed Andre in baseline rallies. Stef has a garbage slice and at this level tennis is massively mental. His mental game is in hell right now. His decline has nothing to do with his strokes.

I agree with you for the most part but he does have some technical limitations

His return isn't great and the numbers prove it

His extreme grips on both wings also limit him (the slice problem is related to this as well)

 

[kangaroo1973]

I agree with you for the most part but he does have some technical limitations

His return isn't great and the numbers prove it

His extreme grips on both wings also limit him (the slice problem is related to this as well)

Not sure this is a fair comparison. Wawrinka has the best 1HBH in history and Fed s BH is ATG shot too , it was never weak, only 1 player on 1 surface was able to exploit it

 

[Rosstour]

Not sure this is a fair comparison. Wawrinka has the best 1HBH in history and Fed s BH is ATG shot too , it was never weak, only 1 player on 1 surface was able to exploit it

Fed's backhand was considered his weakness when he was an up and comer though. He has talked about it in at least one interview I've seen, in the context of what changed for him to become a champion and not stay a talented mug

 

[nolefam_2024]

Berenttini has the same problem, just too much of a shot quality difference forehand to backhand. It pretty much retired Sock. The old days, running around to hit forehands a la Courier and Moya, are over.

Throw one hander in the bin.

 

[nolefam_2024]

Wrong. Tell that to Fed and Stan when they destroyed the best 2hbh players with their 1hbhs. Tell that to Pete who destroyed Andre in baseline rallies. Stef has a garbage slice and at this level tennis is massively mental. His mental game is in hell right now. His decline has nothing to do with his strokes.

Pete Sampras is a dinosaur. He is that much older.

We will tell Sampras not a single damn thing. Tell him to get used to poly and bully on the court with his single hander.

The days of 1 hander are gone federer fan.

 

[optic yellow]

This public outburst about the weakness of one of his main shots represents an unusual moment of transparency on the tour, where players usually tend not to reveal their technical weaknesses.

Well he kinda reveals it every time he steps on a tennis court.

 

[sureshs]

Wrong. Tell that to Fed and Stan when they destroyed the best 2hbh players with their 1hbhs. Tell that to Pete who destroyed Andre in baseline rallies. Stef has a garbage slice and at this level tennis is massively mental. His mental game is in hell right now. His decline has nothing to do with his strokes.

Fed collapsed under Nadal's attack

 

[TennisManiac]

Fed collapsed under Nadal's attack

Is that why Fed beat Nadal the last 7 times they played?

 

[sureshs]

Is that why Fed beat Nadal the last 7 times they played?

Federer and Nadal played each other 40 times, with Nadal leading 24–16 overall, including 14–10 in finals.

 

[messiahrobins]

Stefanos Tsitsipas experienced an unusual moment of frustration during his match against Alexander Shevchenko at the United Cup 2025. The Greek tennis player took advantage of a break to express all his disappointment with his one-handed backhand.

"My backhand is not going anywhere. I would need to put a f***ing truck behind it to get it there. It is impossible to do anything with this shot," Tsitsipas exclaimed, in a rare outburst for his frankness among professional players.

This public outburst about the weakness of one of his main shots represents an unusual moment of transparency on the tour, where players usually tend not to reveal their technical weaknesses.

He has realised 8 years after the rest of us this obvious fact?

 

[ShovelBackhand]

I agree with you for the most part but he does have some technical limitations

His return isn't great and the numbers prove it

His extreme grips on both wings also limit him (the slice problem is related to this as well)

does he not just have an eastern backhand grip and mild semi western forehand? what's so extreme about those? I think he arms his backhand too much whereas more stable ohbh like mustti's and shapo use some more torso rotation. Dimitrov has a great slice, but he also gets lower and uses his torso coil more than stef for his topspin backhand.

 

[Rosstour]

Federer and Nadal played each other 40 times, with Nadal leading 24–16 overall, including 14–10 in finals.

And all of Nadal's dominance over Fed occurred during 2008-13

There was another ten years after that and more matches. But most fans don't like to discuss those; they prefer to focus on W08 and AO09

 

[Rosstour]

does he not just have an eastern backhand grip and mild semi western forehand? what's so extreme about those? I think he arms his backhand too much whereas more stable ohbh like mustti's and shapo use some more torso rotation. Dimitrov has a great slice, but he also gets lower and uses his torso coil more than stef for his topspin backhand.

I think the backhand isn't Eastern enough and the FH might be too Eastern

Opinions vary but:

Are Tsitsipas and Bautista Agut the only active eastern forehands?

Are Tsitsipas and Bautista Agut the only active eastern forehands or are there some guys with lower rankings that also use the eastern grip for the forehand? I won't consider Federe and Del Potro active players unless I see them playing again

tt.tennis-warehouse.com

TPas himself even says his grip is very flat

 

[ND-13]

Two handed backhand are easier to learn and coach. There is not much to speak about it. I dont think when the sport was invented they thought that was the right thing to do. But it is what it is.

One handed backhand needs higher skill and talent. Hence players with OHBH need to be evaluated on a separate scale.

 

[Bride of Alcaraz]

Even with his backhand he still was up 2-set-to-love in the Roland Garros Final vs. Novak.
So he's physically capable with the backhand, just mentally he's lost in recent times
Yes there is a limit to what a one-hander can do, but I doubt switching to 2-hands will get him closer than 2-sets-to-love lead at RG Final!
I tried switching from skirts to shorts many times, and its too pressy so i'm sticking with skirts forever.

 

[RSJfan]

He needs to finally admit and accept the fact that he's a gatekeeper for the elite.

 

[Tennfan123]

I remember when he beat Federer at AO and people were screaming how great that shot was.

 

[wangs78]

I think that his BH has regressed post 2022, shoulder injury in 23 certainly did not help either.
He needs to hire good coach who had a good backhand ( Kuerten, Edberg, Becker, Stich) and fix it, otherwise winning a slam will remain a fairy tale

Lubicic

 

[wangs78]

I think the OH is still viable today but one really needs to have a complete game where the player can maximize their versatility of the one hander (slice, volleys, droppers). Tsitsipas does not have mastery of those shots (like Fed did) and his drive is not like Wawrinka’s hammer so of course it is going to be a liability. With the exception of Wawrinka, who is a bit of an anomaly with his ridiculously powerful and consistent backhand drive, I think a OHer really needs to use the slice about as often as his topspin bh. If he only uses it for defense then it’s not a good enough slice.