Lefties like Shelton and Draper could flip the script at this year’s US Open | US Open tennis
DUring the peak years of the three Great, from 2008 to 2010, the only relevant question to be discussed during the discussion of a draw of the Grand Colem was which the trio was to meet before the final. And what it was finally meant is that the semi-finals have often turned out to be better than the finals (see: the open semi-finals 2010 and 2011 between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, or the French semi-finals 2013 and 2021 between Rafael Nadal and Djokovic).
Tennis had not had this kind of triangle of impenetrable stars since the very brief grip of Jimmy Connors-Björn Borg-John McEnroe Troika on sport at the end of the 1970s and in the early 1980s. What made this era a long time ago, is the preponderance of left-handed players. Consider – From 1974 to 1984, a SouthPaw triumphed each of those 11 years at the US Open; Connors in 1974, 1976, 1978, 1982 and 1983; Manuel Orants in 1975, Guillermo Vilas in 1977 and John McEnroe in 1979, 1980, 1981 and 1984. In addition, in 1979, four of the six tops classified men were left -handers – Connors, McEnroe, Vilas and Roscoe Tanner. And just before the domination of Connors and McEnroe, the left -hander Rod Laver had been – far – the best male player in the world when the open era started.
Why were the left-handers so predominant? It is impossible to know. But during the 41 years which followed the last title of Open from McEnroe, only two Masculine leftrs (Nadal and Goran Ivanišević) won the title US Open or Wimbledon and only three other left -handers claimed all slam: Andrés Gómez (1990 French Open), Thomas Mustter (1995 French Open) and Petr Korda, Slame in Australia in 1998.
And Nadal is not even a natural left -handed because it does almost all other tasks on the right. Part of the Spanish legend is that when he was a young player, he hit his grounds with two hands on both sides. His coach and uncle, Toni, saw his nephew hitting stronger on the left side and from this Nadal’s moment has become a left -hander. Unlike initial opinions on the subject, there was no master plan to transform a nadal infant into a left -hander to take advantage of the inherent advantages of being a southpaw in tennis.
The same trend was also true for women. At the end of the 1970s, in the mid -1990s, several southern women of the South track accumulated a generosity of slam titles, notably Martina Navratilova and Monica Seles (although she struck with both hands for all her shots, she was a natural left -hander and served left -handed). But since the reign of Seles too, there were only three left -handed colleagues to claim a major female, Petra Kvitova, Marketa Vondrouová and Angelique Kerber.
What makes the rarity of left -hand champions in the recent history of sport so confusing is that there is a distinct advantage to be a left -hander. Whether it is the twist and the coup de McENROE in the very important AD court (the blow that some keep led Borg of the sport), or the vicious previous blows of Nadal High Topspin in Federer’s reverse, the left -handers have confused even the most talented right -handers of the history of sport. The different trajectories of bullets and towers that the left -handers give are so different for the majority of players who are right -handers. And, to put it even more simply, from the left -handers of young ages, are just more used to hitting right -handers than Vice Versa.
The advantage that left -handers have in tennis are not different from the Edge Southpaw launchers in baseball, or left -wing quisors have in cricket. Consider the fact that there are 84 launchers in the Hall of Fame and 18 are left -handed, representing more than 20%, which represents about double the left -hand percentage in the global population. The service and the field are the two most important components of respective sports. And in each case, their objective is to confuse and confuse their enemy.
It seems that a left renaissance in tennis can be in progress. Ben Shelton (Lefty Natural) and Jack Draper (a more nadal left -hander changed his hands as a junior).
The question that each best American male player hears tirelessly is whether he will be the “first American to win a slam from Andy Roddick”. If Shelton was to win a major, he would also be the first American left -hander since McEnroe in 1984 to do so.
Shelton, the world No. 6, won his first round match at Flushing Meadows in two sets on Sunday, and has the best and most coherent year of his career. Despite a disappointing finish in Cincinnati, losing a quarter-quarter quarter-final against Alexander Zverev, the Floridian won his first masters title in Canada earlier this month and quickly became a confident player who uses his left-hander to a maximum advantage, in particular with the wide service of advertising. And although the task of breaking the grip that Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have at the top of sport, is at least, Shelton has the tools – in particular his powerful service – to provide a legitimate challenge.
Shelton’s record against the first two does not seem to offer a lot of hope on paper because it has won only one of the 10 meetings against Alcaraz and Sinner, but it got closer several times. He will be essential for Shelton – again – maximize the use of his huge service if he had to play one of the first two. One of Shelton’s weaknesses when he appeared for the first time on tour was his sometimes erratic game and his Go-For-Broke style. But it is this exact component that he will have to invoke if he wants to threaten the sinner or the Alcaraz. No one beat this duo by engaging in prolonged gatherings. Chances must be taken.
Draper, like Shelton, also benefits from his best year as a pro. His stellar race began at least US Open of the year when he did the semi-finals and he continued in 2025 because he, like Shelton, also won his first title of Masters, in Indian Wells. Since he started playing right -handed, Draper has noticed many times that his setback is a weapon as powerful as his forehand.
And there is a third left -hander in the mixture – probably the most exciting in the group. The French Terence Atmane has apparently arrived from nowhere to Cincinnati while the qualifier has shot two top-10 (Taylor Fritz and Holger Rune) in addition to easily defeat another young talented player, João Fonseca. In the semi-finals against Sinner, Atmane has scared the world n ° 1, pushing the Italian to a break in equality in the first set, before descending on earth in the second.
With its hyper-rushed service movement and its throw, Atmane reminds us that other Lefty of the 1970s, Roscoe Tanner. Atmane’s incredibly powerful service does not give much time to the receiver to react and once the point begins, its high stroke of high trunk is almost impossible to defend. Rune and Fritz looked completely blind in Cincinnati against the 23 -year -old woman. Unfortunately, we will not see Atmane to US Open this year after being forced to withdraw with a foot injury.
The contrast is good for sport, in fact, it is essential for drama. By having more left -handed in the mixture in tennis, this can only add to the quality and a unique character of the matches. And with a list of young South pistols making great progress, it will be as soon as possible before a left -hander again claims a title for the Grand Slam male.
