No longer colouring tennis courts with the one-handed paintbrush

The one-handed backhand is steeped in the game's history, but only a handful of top pros play it now 

- Rutvick Mehta

They even had a band back in the day. Now, among tennis' most classical shots, it is fast going out of tune in the modern game. The one-handed backhand finds no presence among players ranked top 10 in the past week's chart. With Stefanos Tsitsipas dropping to world No.ll, it's the first-ever wipe out of the shot soaked in elegance since ATP rankings were introduced in 1973.

Then, nine of the world's top 10 flaunted one-handed backhands (the exception being Jimmy Connors), and 11 of the 28 players to have occupied the top spot since have done so possessing that shot. None greater than Roger Federer, its most iconic poster boy whose one-handed backhand evoked gasps, defined elegance and formed a select singing club labelled Federer's Backhand Boys.

Now, only a handful of male pros with a one-handed backhand remain inside the top 100, while the pool is even drier among the women (German 36-year-old Tatjana Maria, at No.54, is the highest-ranked woman who relies largely on the one-hander).

A lot like the serve and volley, the one-handed backhand is steeped in tennis history. The most aesthetically pleasing shot on court, it was almost the de facto way of playing the backhand years ago, to which the likes of Rod Laver, John McEnroe, Martina Navratilova, Pete Sampras and Federer sprinkled more oomph. Who wouldn't pay to see Federer whip his backhand like a magic wand that can elicit speed, power, angle and the audience's collective attention using just the right arm?