Dimitrov's damaging forehand tops the charts

Grigor Dimitrov’s forehand is a cannon.

An ATP Infosys Beyond The Numbers analysis of TDI data of groundstroke speed, spin, and net clearance of the current Top 10 at ATP events over the past three years identifies that nobody blasts his forehand bigger than the 33-year-old Bulgarian.

Dimitrov’s career-high PIF ATP Ranking was No. 3 back in 2017. He started 2022 at No. 28 and has climbed back to No. 9, and ripping forehands has definitely helped pave the way back to the upper echelon of our sport.

The data set is also broken down by surface into the following four categories.
• Indoor hard
• Outdoor hard
• Clay
• Grass

The Top 10 average for forehand speed is 75 mph. Dimitrov is the only player in the data set to reach the 80 mph threshold on any surface. Below are the three players who reached the top two speeds.

Average Forehand Speed
1. 80 mph = Dimitrov (outdoor hard)
2. 80 mph = Dimitrov (clay)
3. 79 mph = Dimitrov (indoor hard)
4. 79 mph = Fritz (indoor hard)
5. 79 mph = Rublev (indoor hard)

Dimitrov won the Brisbane International Presented By Evie to start 2024, defeating World No. 8 Holger Rune, 7-6(5), 6-4 in the final. Dimitrov’s average forehand speed was a cracking 81 mph against Rune and elevated to 82 mph in his second-round victory over Daniel Altmaier.

Interestingly, Hubert Hurkacz occupied three of the slowest four forehand speeds, with 69 mph on grass being the slowest in the data set. It’s important to note that faster does not always represent better. A variety of speed, spin, depth, and direction help make all forehands a dangerous weapon.

Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev lead the pack with backhand speed, occupying the five fastest backhands in the Top 10. The Top 10 average is 68 mph. Sinner and Zverev blew well past that speed milestone.

Average Backhand Speed
1. 75 mph = Sinner (clay)
2. 73 mph = Sinner (outdoor hard)
3. 73 mph = Sinner (indoor hard)
4. 73 mph = Zverev (clay)
5. 72 mph = Zverev (indoor hard)

Sinner and Zverev have met once on clay in the past three seasons, with Zverev winning 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(5) in the 2022 Rolex Monte Carlo Masters quarter-finals. Sinner’s average backhand speed was a blistering 76 mph, while Zverev’s was 75 mph. There was no holding back from either player off the backhand wing.

Hurkacz on grass, at 59 mph, registered the slowest average backhand speed in the Top 10.

When it comes to hitting the heaviest ball with the most spin, just two players occupied the leading six spots with forehand spin: Casper Ruud and Carlos Alcaraz.

Average Forehand Spin
1. 3291 rpm = Ruud (clay)
2. 3207 rpm = Ruud (outdoor hard)
3. 3177 rpm = Alcaraz (outdoor hard)
4. 3141 rpm = Ruud (outdoor hard)
5. 3056 rpm = Alcaraz (clay)
6. 3055 rpm = Alcaraz (indoor hard)

These two players last met in the 2023 Beijing ATP 500 quarter-finals, where Alcaraz won 6-4, 6-2. The Spaniard crushed his forehand, averaging a jaw-dropping 3316 rpm, with Ruud also breaking the 3000 rpm threshold at 3175 pm. Both players enjoy hitting massive amounts of forehand spin to get the ball to kick high and heavy above their opponent’s groundstroke strike zone.

The Top 10 forehand spin average was 2708 rpm. Once again, Hurkacz on grass, at 2085 pm, was at the bottom of the table with the least amount of forehand spin.

Dimitrov possesses the only one-handed backhand in the Top 10, and it’s somewhat surprising to see him elevate to the top of the player list when it comes to hitting the heaviest backhand. In fact, the leading seven spots are all occupied by Dimitrov and Ruud.

Average Backhand Spin
1. 2681 rpm = Dimitrov (clay)
2. 2651 rpm = Ruud (clay)
3. 2606 rpm = Ruud (outdoor hard
4. 2580 rpm = Dimitrov (indoor hard)
5. 2576 rpm = Dimitrov (outdoor hard)
6. 2572 rpm = Ruud (indoor hard)
7. 2399 rpm = Dimitrov (grass)

These two players have only met once in the past three years, with Dimitrov winning 6-3, 7-5 in the 2022 Monte Carlo round of 16. Ruud averaged a massive 2877 backhand rpm, while Dimitrov was at 2647 rpm. Height plus depth plus this amount of spin makes it almost impossible for opponents to successfully step into the ball to attack.

Speed and spin also produce a height above the net metric, and it’s no surprise to see the leading two forehand spots occupied by Ruud on clay (0.89 metres) and Alcaraz on clay at (0.87 metres). On the backhand wing, Ruud occupied the leading three spots, with those being on clay (1.12 metres), outdoor hard (1.04 metres), and indoor hard (0.92 metres).

The Top 10 are incredibly adept at blending speed, spin, and height to produce a groundstroke that feels ideal to execute and makes their opponents very uncomfortable on the other side of the net.

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