One Hand or Two on Grass?

As 24th-seed Tommy Haas upset 4th-seed Novak Djokovic in Wimbledon's quarterfinals Wednesday, one of the contests within that contest was Haas's one-handed backhand against Djokovic's two-hander.

The two types of backhand have roughly equal lists of advantages and disadvantages overall, but on grass, the one-hander has a bit more of an edge. The one-hander is weakest on high balls, the two-hander on low balls, and on grass, the ball bounces lower than on hard courts or clay. The slice backhand, almost exclusively a one-handed shot, is especially effective on grass, where its low skid makes it a major weapon, and you'll see the smarter two-handers like Andy Murray use the one-handed slice more often than the two-hander against certain opponents.

Returning serve is tough on grass because the low bounce is also a fast bounce. The two-handed backhand has an advantage in allowing a later point of contact and providing more support to help the racquet resist the impact of the serve's speed. The one-hander can reach wide better, though, and players use wide serves quite often at Wimbledon.

If you check the rosters of the past men's singles champions at Wimbledon, one-handers have the clear majority since the two-handed backhand first emerged. The list of women's singles champions has many more two-handers, but unlike on the men's side, where there's a roughly even split between one- and two-handed players, female one-handers are a fairly small minority.

• Photo Lesson: The Basic One-Handed Backhand
• Photo Lesson: The Basic Two-Handed Backhand
• Photo Lesson: The One-Handed Backhand Sidespin Slice
• Return of Serve FAQ