The Copa Colsanitas Zurich has been held since 1998, making it one of the longest-running tournaments on the Hologic WTA Tour calendar as well as the biggest in South America. This year, it marks the first sighting of red clay in 2024. Vote for your favorite shot of the first round below.
Irina Bara pulled off two terrific defensive shots in one rally -- the lob that reset the point, and then the final stretch for Katarina Zavatska's angled volley that landed neatly in the corner. No wonder Zavatska applauded her.
Anca Todoni's approach was a smart one: as Lucrezia Stefanini hared from corner to corner, the Romanian hammered a forehand at her body, meaning that the Italian almost found herself overrunning it. But somehow, Stefanini put the brakes on and found the angle necessary for the pass while leaping backwards.
A Camila Osorio crowd-pleaser in front of the former champion's home fans: the Colombian can turn a point around like few others, here showing off her drop shot and net reflexes to steal the rally from Marina Stakusic.
Cristina Bucsa's full-stretch get from You Xiaodi's drop shot was remarkable enough that the commentator instinctively reacted with an "ooh" -- but the flicked pass she still needed to hit while moving backwards was even better.
Deep into the third set, Irina Bara seemed to have outdone Katarina Zavatska with an excellent pass on the run -- but the Ukrainian stuck her racquet down and somehow flicked a half-volley winner over the net that died on the clay.
The received wisdom is that you should never go for the drop shot when behind the baseline, but no one told Tatjana Maria. The defending champion, pushed far back by a heavy Anna Bondar backhand, simply responded with an absurdly high-skill winner.
