An amiable junior prodigy from Denver, the 16-year-old was the oddest sight at this year’s US Open, the only player in the tournament – man, woman or junior – who hits only forehands. To be clear: it’s not that he doesn’t have a backhand or can’t hit a backhand. He’s ambidextrous and so he doesn’t bother with them.
I like hitting backhands myself just to play around, just for fun.” He hits those from both wings, too. Davidov has been a giddy curiosity for hardcore tennis fans for the past five years, with rubberneckers gaping at clips from his matches and training sessions that seem at a glance like AI. A four-year-old video of him flummoxing Carlos Alcaraz’s younger brother makes for especially tasty viewing.
You have to see him in person, especially now that he’s a 5ft 7in teenager. His second-round doubles match on Wednesday evening had hordes of wine and Honey Deuce-sipping casuals drifting over to Court 6 at sunset for a closer look – and whipping out their phones from the first warm-up ball. It really was the damnedest thing watching him alternate hitting groundstrokes with his right and left hand, lobs and volleys too.
But witnessing the kid serve was the trippiest experience by far, like watching AI in the wild. It’s always advantage Davidov. It doesn’t matter which side of the baseline he sets up on – if you’re returning, you’d better mind your backhand.
But when it came to dictating pace, chasing down line drives or the rapid-fire exchanges at net, Davidov never fumbled his racquet. There were times during his rallies when it was debatable whether a backhand would be easier for him to load or if switching forehand sides mid-rally took some of the edge off when he clearly just wanted to grip and rip. But the double-wing thing is ingrained for Davidov.
It almost never happens where I’m late for a ball because something goes wrong with the switching.” On Wednesday, it was a matter of running into a much stronger opponent. Davidov and Lee – wildcard entrants into this draw – had their moments, dazzling the crowd with a handful of pell-mell exchanges, but they were ultimately overwhelmed by Sesko’s punishing groundstrokes and Miguel’s feline reflexes. Sesko, the reigning Australian Open singles and Wimbledon doubles champion, is seriously impressive; Miguel, already a Futures-level title winner, has a real shot at the US Open boys’ singles crown.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
