Tweener (tennis)

For "tweener" tennis rackets, see Tweener racket.
Guillermo Vilas performing the Gran Willy shot.

The tweener or between-the-legs shot is a difficult tennis shot where a player hits the ball between his or her legs. It is typically performed facing away from the opponent, when the player attempts to recover a lob and has no time to turn back around, and hits the ball backward between their legs. Forward-facing tweeners, sometimes called "front tweeners", are also occasionally employed. In competitive matches the tweener is a crowd-pleasing, seldom used last resort, but it is a common trick shot in exhibitions. Players who famously executed the backward shot include Guillermo Vilas (whose version was called the "Gran Willy"), Yannick Noah, Ilie Nastase, Gabriela Sabatini and Roger Federer.[1][2][3][4]

History

The origin of the backward shot is unclear; both Argentine Guillermo Vilas and French player Yannick Noah claim to have invented it. Both players used it somewhat regularly in the 1970s.[2][3] Vilas was inspired by an advertisement where a polo player hit a backwards shot between his horse's hind legs.[5] He debuted his version in a 1974 exhibition match then employed it in an official match the following year against Manuel Orantes; the shot became known as the "Gran Willy" after him.[6] Romanian Ilie Năstase, who pioneered a backward over-the-shoulder shot known as the "Bucharest Backfire", also executed the backward tweener during the 1970s.[2][3]

In the 1980s, players employing the backward tweener shot included the German player Boris Becker and Argentine Gabriela Sabatini, whose version became known as "the Sabatweenie". American Andre Agassi used it in the 1990s.[2] In the 21st century, Swiss player Roger Federer hit tweeners on several notable occasions, further popularizing the shot. He successfully hit a backward tweener for a winner to give himself match point in the 2009 US Open semifinal, which he called "the greatest shot I ever hit in my life."[1][7] Federer has also used front-facing tweeners on several occasions.[8][9]

References

  1. 1 2 Grasso, John (2011). Historical Dictionary of Tennis. Scarecrow Press. p. 288. ISBN 0810872374. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Siegel, Alan (September 8, 2010). "Roger Federer and the History of Tennis Trick Shots". The Atlantic. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 Clarey, Christopher (August 31, 2010). "Federer Hits His Greatest Shot Ever, A Second Time". The New York Times. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  4. ↑ Dent, Mark (May 10, 2012). "Everybody's Doing the Tweener". theclassical.org. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  5. ↑ "La vidriera". La Nación. 20 September 2006. Retrieved 20 January 2008.
  6. ↑ "Vilas volvió a hacer la "Gran Willy" a cien metros de la primera vez" [Vilas has returned to make the "Gran Willy" a hundred meters from the first time]. Diario Buenos Aires. 8 December 2006. Retrieved 20 January 2008.
  7. ↑ Roger Federer: "It's the greatest shot I ever hit in my life. Mail Online. 14 September 2009.
  8. ↑ "Federer hits through-the-legs winner at Qatar Open". ESPN. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  9. ↑ White, Jim (July 2, 2015). "Wimbledon 2015: Roger Federer delights centre court in Sam Querrey demolition". The Telegraph. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
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