There are a few things in tennis that capture it's magic quite like the whip of the single-handed backhand. But in this age of power tennis where balls fly loaded with top-spin, it is seen more as a liability than a stroke of art.


Tommy Robredo. Pic/Getty Images 

"Right now, I would say it is a disadvantage," says one of its finest executors, Tommy Robredo. The Spaniard, along with Russia's Mikhail Youzhny, enchanted Indian spectators for Mumbai Masters with the shot during the ongoing Champions Tennis League. He sees his lethal forehand, which he accelerates at will, as his biggest strength, but it's the single-handed backhand that draws most of the gasps.