Ah, rankings... publications love them because they get people talking. I wish they wouldn't have ranked him #1, so as to generate some controversy and show some guts. Rankings like this are so subjective anyway, and there's a good case for someone else as #1. I would have argued for that as an editor. My guess is they strongly considered it, thought it through on its merits, and honestly thought he deserved it.
(EDIT: I just ran across this explanation from the author in a different article about the list: Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova and John McEnroe, as well as fellow Hall of Famers like Pete Sampras and Ivan Lendl, had great one-handers. You don’t win seven or more majors, as they all did, without one. But none of them made my Top 20 because I thought of them as having even better weapons with other strokes. Serve and forehand for Graf and Lendl; serve and volley for Navratilova and McEnroe; serve, forehand and volley for Sampras.
Of course, you could say the same thing about Federer and Laver, both of whom are in my Top 10. But along with his slice, Federer had a topspin drive, and a gracefully explosive one at that; I gave points for style in this list.]
https://www.tennis.com/news/articles/wh ... ands-of-th
Whose would you have ranked #1?
I think Barty is a bit of a cheat. She only sliced. A lot of players use the slice - Ons does. They both use a two-hander to return and finish a point. I think she even used the two-hander to rally sometimes. So she wasn't a pure one-handed-backhand player. But I guess she preferred it and used the slice to great effect.
I'm just amazed that they did full writeups on 20 one-handed backhands! They're quite repetitive. That's "content" for you these days.
The writer also said this: "It was hard to leave off the legends mentioned above, and I wouldn’t argue with anyone who wanted to include them—especially McEnroe and Navratilova. But I also liked having a chance to write about players whose games we don’t hear as much about now, like Gaston Gaudio, Nicolas Almagro and Evonne Goolagong, as well as those, like Carla Suarez Navarro and Richard Gasquet, who were and are defined by their stunning one-handers. Their backhands were standout parts of their games, and added a distinctive aesthetic flavor to the sport that no one can duplicate."
As en editor, I would have argued that his desire to write about these players - ones who they struggle to find ways to cover - shouldn't have been a factor in making the list. That has nothing to do with the merits of the list. But it has a lot to do with making a publication. I would have suggested an honorable mention or something to work in lesser-covered players