Dimitrov single-handedly flying flag at Wimbledon for old-school backhand

LONDON :For tennis purists the sight of a single-handed backhand pinging off the centre of a racket is a joy to behold but it is becoming rare and Grigor Dimitrov, one of the best exponents of the shot, believes it could soon vanish.

The 34-year-old former world number three describes hitting a one-handed backhand as like hitting the jackpot and the shot has helped him to career earnings of more than $30 million.

He used it to great effect on Saturday as he beat Austria's Sebastian Ofner 6-3 6-4 7-6(0) in front of an appreciative Court Three crowd, reaching the last 16 of Wimbledon for the fifth time with his 100th Grand Slam match win.

But with eight-times Wimbledon champion Roger Federer, Richard Gasquet and Dominic Thiem all retired and Stan Wawrinka in the twilight of his career, the single-handed backhand club has a shrinking membership.

Of the current top 20, only Italian Lorenzo Musetti does not have a double-fisted backhand, the stroke that most juniors these days are taught to hit. It is even rarer in the women's where a double-hander now seems almost obligatory, although the slice is still played single-handed.

"The backhand with one hand is the same thing over and over again. Once you hit it, it feels like jackpot," Bulgarian Dimitrov, the only man left in the singles with a one-handed backhand, told reporters.

"Listen, I think over the course of the next years we will see it less and less. That's just how it is. The tennis has sped up so much. Everybody is hitting harder, stronger, off both wings. There's not enough time."

Putting two hands on the racket to drive a backhand enables players to be more stable through the shot and deal with higher balls and for many it is a simpler, more repeatable action.

Dimitrov,