Watching the flourish of Henry Bernet’s beautiful backhand at the Roland Garros Junior Championships on Sunday, it was impossible not to be reminded of the brilliance of a former Swiss champion from Basel.

The comparison to Roger Federer is one that Bernet, who defeated No.3 seed Nicolai Budkov Kjaer from Norway 6-1 6-3 in the first round of Boys’ singles, has heard before.

There is a good reason for this, for not only does the No.45-ranked boy hail from Basel, he represents the same club where the 20-time grand slam champion played in his junior days.

Bernet, who qualified for Roland Garros, has played on the Roger Federer Tennis Court at the TC Old Boys and represents a team captained by former world No. 52 Marco Chiudinelli.

A close friend and Davis Cup-winning teammate of Federer, Chiudinelli set his alarm clock early in Basel on Sunday to catch a train to Paris to watch the emerging talent in action.

“I have never met Roger, of course, but Marco was actually here watching my match,” Bernet said. 

“It is an honour for me to see them interested in my game. It is a motivation for me. I have been compared already with Roger, but it is like, ‘he is another world. He is playing at another level and I am very far away from it'.But it keeps me motivated.

“I mean, what Roger and Stan Wawrinka achieved for the country Switzerland is not normal and it's just an inspiration for us young people.”

His popularity was evident after the match, with several peers competing in the junior event which began on Sunday in Paris quick to offer their congratulations as he was interviewed.

It was not only Bernet’s backhand that evoked memories of Federer and Wawrinka, who are both former champions at Roland Garros. 

The 17-year-old, who has enjoyed a recent growth spurt and stands 192cm, was quick to seize an opportunity to attack the net whenever he opened the court with angles or touch.

“That is what I am trying to improve, because I think it is very important for the future, to have a net game. I just try to use my weapons and then finish at the net,” he said.

Concerns about the future of the one-handed backhand were raised earlier this year when, for the first time in history, not one member of the men’s top 10 played with a single hand.

But Bernet, who secured victory not long after Stefanos Tsitsipas reached the quarter-finals in the men’s singles on Sunday, has no doubt it can remain a vibrant shot. 

The fans sitting courtside for his match would agree, with a running backhand passing shot at 1-all in particular resplendent for its similarity in execution to Federer and Wawrinka.

“At the moment, when you don't see a lot of one-handed backhands, it is nice that I can use it as a weapon,” he said. 

“You have more variation and …  you have more freedom to swing as well. Of course, with the two-handed backhand, you can help more with the left hand, but that was never really my strength. So I switched early to a one-handed backhand and … I believe that it’s still a weapon in modern tennis.”

Bernet left home at the age of 15 to move to the Swiss Tennis National Performance Center in Biel but says he still receives great support from his parents Robert and Michele, along with his older brother Louis.

“We had some fights when we were young, of course, but I have a great relationship with him,” Bernet said. 

“He is more focused on education but it is a great, great mixture in our family. I get their support. I get motivation. And they do not put me under any pressure and that is just a perfect surrounding.” 

Click here for a full list of results from the 2024 Roland Garros Junior Championships