India, Sept. 20 -- The 2026 US Open, and this Grand Slam season, will go down in tennis history books - not for its records or champions, but for the end of a 149-year run and another nail in the coffin of a dying art.

At least one men's singles player with a one-handed backhand had reached the semi-final of a Grand Slam every year. That is. Until this year.

A streak that began with the 1877 Wimbledon Championships ended with the 2026 US Open, where Greek player Stefanos Tsitsipas was the last man standing among the one-handers before his exit in the fourth round.

The one-handed backhand's slide from the norm to an exception, amidst the rise of the two-hander, is not a recent phenomenon. Its decline has been steady over the past few de...