Word: backhanded
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...also thrives on confrontation, which can rub tennis vets the wrong way. "I'm not sure if he knows the difference between a forehand and a backhand," says a tennis insider who requested anonymity. That wouldn't bother De Villiers--and it doesn't matter. Tennis doesn't need a tennis expert; it needs someone who can execute a business plan. It's your serve, Etienne...
...well have plucked volcanic lava from a crater. I could feel the flesh of my palm liquefying. Pain bolted up my arm like an electric current. In one fluid motion, I raised my right arm and started to throw the mass over the side of the vehicle, a short backhand toss. Then everything went dark...
...third set, Federer serves for the match at 5-3. Blake breaks and sends that set to a tiebreak.And here is the watershed moment.Down 8-9 and a match point in that tiebreak, Blake steps into the court for a short ball from Federer and cracks the meanest backhand winner down the line you’ll ever see. Next point—a screaming cross-court forehand winner. And then on set point, he takes his first set from Federer in 13 tries with a spectacular backhand volley that sends Federer to his knees—literally. Although Blake...
...wore a cream-colored blazer to his Wimbledon matches) and sublime. "The way Roger moves, he's a ballet dancer out there," says McEnroe. "He floats above the court. His style is the most beautiful I've seen." Federer's volleys, awe-inspiring angled shots, and fluid one-handed backhand recall a bygone serve-and-volley era before today's high-tech racquets encouraged players to grip and rip missiles from the baseline. Says veteran tennis broadcaster Bud Collins: "He looks as though he woke up from a time capsule...
...long-term duel. Federer is universally recognized as one of history's all-time greats, perhaps the greatest, yet he has dropped six of his eight matches against Nadal. Rafa has a technical advantage: he's a lefty, so his topspin-heavy forehand often crosses high to Federer's backhand, forcing Federer out of position. But more important, Nadal toys with Federer's psyche. "Rafa must be in Roger's head," says Croatian Ivan Ljubicic, the world's third-ranked player and one of Federer's close friends. "There's no other explanation." Federer denies that Nadal has spooked...