[Bruce7]

The poor returning in that Thiem-Mayer final got me thinking. I can't think of a single one hander in the last 20 years who has had a great return apart from Federer.

When you look at the greatest returners of the last 20 years or so, you have:

Agassi, Hewitt, Nalbandian, Davydenko, Ferrer, Murray, Djokovic.

None of them are one-handers. Personally I'd put Federer slightly below these guys but I can't think of any other one handers that are even close. Kuerten maybe?

Having a one handed backhand is a significant weakness in today's return dominated game and while Federer's ego certainly doesn't need it, I think he deserves more props for this. You only have to look at top one handers like Wawrinka, Dimitrov, Lopez. All of them have pathetic returns.

 

[Haasounet]

Haas returned very well in my memories

 

[Il Mancio]

Hasi

 

[Dadinjo]

True, that is for me the main advantage of 2H backhand.

1H on the other hand is easier on the body, doesn't require that much of footwork with 100 little steps as 2H backhand or forheand.

 

[emotion]

Yeah, Haas is the obvious one. Garcia-Lopez is another, and even Gasquet's is alright.

 

[BodyServe]

Golubev has a cracking top spin backhand return, up there with the best.

 

[Fastgrass]

Peak Federer was best returner in the World, better than any current two handed backhand player. Just because he has gotten old, doesn't mean that he was poor or inferior returner than talentless clown like Mug-Ray, Ferrer.

 

[Il Mancio]

Filippo Volandri http://bleacherreport.com/articles/911819-the-best-returners-of-the-last-twenty-years

 

[Il Mancio]

Peak Federer was best returner in the World, better than any current two handed backhand player. Just because he has gotten old, doesn't mean that he was poor or inferior returner than talentless clown like Mug-Ray, Ferrer.

OP says 'apart from Federer' meaning he ranked Fed has among the best.

 

[Bruce7]

Can't believe I forgot about Haas :facepalm:

I'd say Federer's return is sightly better simply because he makes more balls.

 

[Il Mancio]

Yeah, Haas is the obvious one. Garcia-Lopez is another, and even Gasquet's is alright.

+Kohlschreiber

 

[Chokehater]

Youzhny...not atm obv :lol:

He got a good slice and quite a compact swing on the drive.

 

[zjtennis]

What about Robredo?

 

[darcis_forehand]

Darcis, Berlocq, Mahut.

 

[nadalfan2007]

It doesn't depend on number of hands at backhand. Two-handers much more than one-hander on tour that's why good 1hb returners less.

 

[Il Mancio]

True, Youzhny matched well with servebots.

 

[Il Mancio]

What about Robredo?

Yup

 

[Bruce7]

Filippo Volandri http://bleacherreport.com/articles/911819-the-best-returners-of-the-last-twenty-years

Misleading because of clay bias.

Yeah, Haas is the obvious one. Garcia-Lopez is another, and even Gasquet's is alright.

Agree about Haas but not the other two. They can often be exposed by their positioning with acute angles or when they drop the ball short. What's more, their forehand returns are nothing to write home about. You may say this is irrelevant but being a one hander myself, I know that I often cheat to my backhand side and this can leave me exposed on my forehand.

 

[Bruce7]

It doesn't depend on number of hands at backhand. Two-handers much more than one-hander on tour that's why good 1hb returners less.

So wrong. Let's look at one-handers the current top 20 other than Federer: Wawrinka, Dimitrov, Lopez, Robredo.

The only 2-handers in the top 20 who have worse returns than these guys are Raonic, Tsonga, Anderson, Isner. All players whose main weapon is their serve. In fact, the return is a strong suit of every other 2-hander in the top 20.

 

[Floki]

The poor returning in that Thiem-Mayer final got me thinking. I can't think of a single one hander in the last 20 years who has had a great return apart from Federer.

When you look at the greatest returners of the last 20 years or so, you have:

Agassi, Hewitt, Nalbandian, Davydenko, Ferrer, Murray, Djokovic.

None of them are one-handers. Personally I'd put Federer slightly below these guys but I can't think of any other one handers that are even close. Kuerten maybe?

Having a one handed backhand is a significant weakness in today's return dominated game and while Federer's ego certainly doesn't need it, I think he deserves more props for this. You only have to look at top one handers like Wawrinka, Dimitrov, Lopez. All of them have pathetic returns.

Since when Federer has a great return? He simply does not.