Rafael Nadal aside, there has been a paucity of male southpaw champions in recent decades.But that could change at Flushing Meadows this yearDuring the peak years of the Big Three, from 2008-2020, the only relevant issue to be discussed when discussing a grand slam draw was which of the trio was scheduled to meet before the final.And what this ultimately meant was that semi-finals often turned out be better than the finals (see: the 2010 and 2011 US Open semi-finals between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, or the 2013 and 2021 French Open semis between Rafael Nadal and Djokovic).Tennis hadn’t had that kind of impenetrable triangle of stars since the Jimmy Connors-Björn Borg-John McEnroe troika’s very brief hold on the sport in the late 1970s and very early 1980s.What makes that long-ago epoch stand out even further is the preponderance of left-handed players.

Consider – from 1974 through 1984, a southpaw triumphed in every one of those 11 years at the US Open; Connors in 1974, 1976, 1978, 1982 and 1983; Manuel Orantes in 1975, Guillermo Vilas in 1977 and John McEnroe in 1979, 1980, 1981 and 1984,Further, in 1979 four of the top-six ranked men were lefties – Connors, McEnroe, Vilas and Roscoe Tanner,And just prior to Connors and McEnroe’s dominance, the left-handed Rod Laver had been – by far – the best men’s player in the world when the open era began,Why were lefties so predominant? It’s impossible to know,But in the 41 years since McEnroe’s last US Open title only two male lefties (Nadal and Goran Ivanišević) have won the US Open or Wimbledon singles title and only three other lefties have claimed any slam: Andrés Gómez (1990 French Open), Thomas Muster (1995 French Open) and Petr Korda, who won his one and only slam in Australia in 1998.

And Nadal isn’t even a natural lefty as he does nearly all other tasks right-handed,Part of the legend of the Spaniard is that when he was a young player he hit his groundstrokes with two hands from both sides,His coach and uncle, Toni, saw his nephew hit stronger from the left-handed side and from that moment on Nadal became a lefty,Contrary to initial opinions on the topic, there was no master plan to turn an infant Nadal into a lefty to reap the inherent benefits of being a southpaw in tennis,The same trend has also held true for the women.

In the late 1970s into the mid-1990s, several southpaw women accumulated a bounty of slam titles, most notably Martina Navratilova and Monica Seles (though she hit with both hands for all her shots, she was a natural lefty and served left-handed).But since Seles’s too-short reign, there have been only three fellow left-handers to claim a women’s major, Petra Kvitova, Marketa Vondroušová and Angelique Kerber.What makes the paucity of left-handed champions in the sport’s recent history so puzzling is that there is a distinct advantage to being a lefty.Be it McEnroe’s twisting, slicing serve in the all-important ad court (the shot that some maintain drove Borg from the sport), or Nadal’s vicious high topspin forehands into Federer’s backhand, lefties have confounded even the most talented right-handed players throughout the sport’s history.The different ball trajectories and spins that the lefties impart are just so vastly different for the majority of players who are righties.

And, to state it even more simply, from a young age left-handers are just more accustomed to hitting against right-handers than vice versa,The advantage that lefties have in tennis is not dissimilar to the edge southpaw pitchers enjoy in baseball, or left-handed bowlers have in cricket,Consider the fact that there are 84 pitchers in the Hall of Fame and 18 are lefties, accounting for more than 20% which is around double the lefty percentage in the overall population,The serve and the pitch are the two most important components to the respective sports,And in each case their goal is to confound and confuse their foe.

It does appear that a lefty renaissance in tennis may be under way.Leading the charge are Ben Shelton (natural lefty) and Jack Draper (a more Nadal-like lefty who switched dominant hands as a junior).The question that every top male American player hears relentlessly is whether he will be the “first American to win a slam since Andy Roddick”.If Shelton were to notch a major he’d also be the first American lefty since McEnroe in 1984 to do so.Shelton, the world No 6, won his first-round match at Flushing Meadows in straight sets on Sunday, and is having the best and most consistent year of his career.

Despite a disappointing finish in Cincinnati, losing a lopsided quarter-final to Alexander Zverev, the Floridian did win his first Masters title in Canada earlier this month and is fast becoming a confident all-around player who is utilizing his leftyness to maximum advantage, especially with the wide ad-court serve.And though the task of breaking the stranglehold that Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have at the top of the sport is daunting, to say the least, Shelton has the tools – most notably his powerful serve – to provide a legitimate challenge.Shelton’s record against the top two doesn’t appear to offer much hope on paper as he has won only one of 10 meetings against Alcaraz and Sinner, but he has made it close on several occasions.It’ll be paramount for Shelton to – again – maximize the use of his tremendous serve if he were to play either of the top two.One of Shelton’s weaknesses when he first appeared on tour was his sometimes erratic play and go-for-broke style.

But it is this exact component that he’ll need to summon if he is to threaten Sinner or Alcaraz.Nobody beats that duo by engaging in extended rallies.Chances have to be taken.Draper, like Shelton, is also enjoying his best year as a pro.His stellar run started at least year’s US Open when he made the semi-finals and it continued into 2025 as he, like Shelton, also won his first Masters title, at Indian Wells.

Since he started up playing right handed, Draper has remarked on numerous occasions that his backhand is just as potent a weapon as his forehand.And there is a third lefty in the mix – arguably the most exciting of the bunch.Frenchman Terence Atmane arrived seemingly out of nowhere in Cincinnati as the qualifier took down two top-10 seeds (Taylor Fritz and Holger Rune) in addition to easily defeating another talented young player, João Fonseca.In the semi-final against Sinner, Atmane put a scare into the world No 1, pushing the Italian to a tiebreak in the first set, before coming down to earth in the second.With his hyper-abbreviated service motion and toss, Atmane brings to mind that other lefty from the 1970s, Roscoe Tanner.

Atmane’s incredibly powerful serve doesn’t give the receiver much time to react and once the point starts, his high-rpm forehand is nearly impossible to defend.Rune and Fritz looked utterly blindsided in Cincinnati when facing the 23-year-old.Unfortunately, we won’t see Atmane at this year’s US Open after he was forced to withdraw with a foot injury.Contrast is good for sports, in fact it’s essential for drama.By having more lefties in the mix in tennis it can only add to the quality and uniqueness of the matchups.

And with a slate of young southpaws making great strides, it’ll be sooner than later before a lefty again claims a men’s grand slam title.