15-year-old ambidextrous two-handed tennis talent Teodor Davidov takes first steps into professional tennis

Teodor Davidov made waves as a teenager as a two-handed tennis talent who would switch forehand wings and switch his racquet from one hand to another not using a backhand. He has now earned his first points as a 15-year-old.

He is currently ranked outside the top 300 in the world among players aged 18 and under and he reached the Quarter-Finals of a small tournament in Naples, Florida. Many experts only see advantages and Davidov himself spoke when he was 12 about how he managed to decipher the talent he had.

With Davidov using two forehands over a backhand, many see it as a strength that he is able to do so and doesn't really convene in any weakness on either end as he isn't having to switch to a backhand.

He was born in Sofia, Bulgaria but his family moved to Denver, Colorado when he was a year and a half old. Having grown up in Colorado, he moved to Bradenton, Florida. By this time, he had already been playing for many years.

His unique two-strike forehand playing style began to develop when he was 8 years old after an idea from his father and despite criticism, he said that it works for him.

"I discovered tennis when I was a baby. My father - who is now his coach - hung a tennis ball on a string and gave me a little racquet. We started playing on a tennis court when I was two and a half," said Davidov to Babolat.

"My father noticed that my left-handed forehand wasn't so bad".

"It was my father's idea. My father first wanted to improve my coordination but noticed that my left-handed forehand - he's right-handed - wasn't so bad. So, we started training him more and more."

"People who have never seen me play in real life often criticize my playing style. However, everyone who watches me play tells me to keep doing what I'm doing."

In January 2024, Davidov won the 42nd edition of the Petits As de Tarbes in doubles. He aimed back then to reach the top 50 in juniors to compete in Grand Slams and while he is still young enough to harbour ambitions in the junior ranks, he has now taken first steps in the pros.

"I don't just want to be a professional player, I want to be the best tennis player of all time," he said back then. High ambitions indeed.

Patrick Mouratoglou who has previously featured him on his YouTube also spoke in high praise about his games.

“Especially if you can serve with two hands, you have the ability on both sides of the court to hit the ball sharply wide and open up the court for yourself,” he analyzes, referring to the empty space in the opposite corner that an opponent has to leave when trying to return the ball.

Dutch left hander Robin Haase as per AD also spoke about the talents of playing with two hands. “If only…,” he now responds about the two-handed style of the young talents. And he is mainly referring to serving with two hands. “I think I could have done it if I had practiced it early on: occasionally serving left-handed. That would have been a huge weapon.”

“I’m ambidextrous, I can do many things with both hands. If you learn to play tennis with two hands at a young age, it doesn’t have to be that difficult if you have good coordination. And if you don’t, you won’t become a tennis player anyway.”

Albeit Haase does see some disadvantage to being multi talented on the forehand.

“The mental aspect,” he says. “It has many advantages, but the more you can do, the more choices you have.

“And the more choices you have, the more you start thinking. And when you start thinking, you make mistakes. That’s the aspect a player’s coach especially needs to be very aware of.”