Why do many tennis players switch to competitive moves?

Most tennis players believe that playing forehand with the left hand brings a huge advantage. The reason is because the shot is more convenient and natural in directing the ball to the "A" corner when serving in the left box (ad court), the part of the court where important scores like 40-30 or tie-up often take place. Furthermore, serves at the "letter A " angle will automatically point towards the backhand of a right-handed opponent.

This is exactly the intention that Toni Nadal conveyed to Rafael Nadal, who is actually right-handed. However, Rafa decided to take his uncle's advice, practice hitting his forehand with his left hand, and the rest is history. Similar to former Spanish tennis player, Jack Draper, world number seven, also learned from his idol.

"I write with my right hand, kick the ball with my right foot. In general, I do everything with my right hand, " Draper said at Indian Wells earlier this year. "When I was little, I hit with my right hand and used my left to pick up the ball. Everything was instinctive and natural, until I was 15 years old. I had to work really hard to change my hands, especially the serve. I was a bit of an odd guy. "

Like Draper, fellow Englishman Cameron Norrie does everything with his right hand but plays tennis with his left hand. This is also the case of former three-time Grand Slam champion female tennis player Angelique Kerber. However, there are also people who were initially left-handed before switching to the right. Tommy Paul is one of them.

"It's quite strange. I see myself as a mess, " Paul said at the 2025 US Open. "I write, eat or brush my teeth with my left hand, but play all sports with my right hand. I also play soccer with my right foot. I wish I could play with my left hand, that would be interesting ".

According to estimates, people Left-handedness accounts for 10-12% of the world's population. In the tennis industry, there are only 11 male tennis players in the top 100 who are left-handed. This index of the top 100 women is 7 people.

"I remember that the first time I held a racket, I used my right hand. My mother was the same, she played sports with her right hand but wrote with her left hand.. However, my brother only uses his left hand, and his sister does everything with her right hand. In general, I don't know why my family is like that, we keep struggling to find an explanation, " Draper added. "Honestly, I'm a bit sad. I prefer to play with my right hand ".

Some tennis players are ambidextrous, such as Maria Sharapova. As a teenager, Sharapova tried playing left-handed, but eventually chose to play right-handed. Or take Marion Bartoli, the 2013 Wimbledon champion who does almost everything with his left hand, but serves with his right and hits every ball with both hands. Hsieh Su-Wei is also a player who hits both forehand and left shots with both hands.

Leylah Fernandez, runner-up at the 2021 US Open, is proficient in using both hands. The Canadian tennis player said: "I use my right hand to do chores in life. I also like to throw balls in baseball, or sign autographs, with my right hand. However, I use my left hand to write. I don't know why. Everything comes to me very naturally. With tennis, it's always the left hand. "

Meanwhile, some athletes are surprised by living with their left hand but choosing to play tennis with their left hand. Right. Australian legends Ken Rosewall and Margaret Court, who were encouraged by their fathers to use their right hands, are examples. Rosewall won 8 Grand Slams, while Court won 24 majors - an all-time record with Novak Djokovic.

The person who was expected to become "Djokovic 2.0 ", Borna Coric, also has a similar story. When Coric first encountered tennis, his father told the coach that his son used his left hand to do everything in life. But Coric surprised his father when the coach gave him the racket to hold.

"I use my right hand ", Coric told Tennis Majors. Not only the Croatian tennis player, former world number one Carlos Moya or Spanish compatriot Paula Badosa hit the forehand with their right hand, even though it is the dominant hand in everyday life. "I think I would play better if I used my left hand, " Badosa once explained her choice to Tennis Channel..

In addition to tennis players actively choosing their non-dominant hand to be their "dominant hand" when competing, there are cases where they are forced to change due to injury. For example, Roger Taylor, an expert in the "serve to the net" style of play and was a three-time Wimbledon semi-finalist in the 1970s. Instead of maintaining his left-handed advantage after persistent shoulder problems, Taylor trained and switched to his right hand to serve better in the late stages of his career.