Vote now: The 2024 Shot of the Year Showdown wraps up the clay season
Editor's note: Over the next two weeks, wtatennis.com will be running the 2024 Shot of the Year Showdown -- a bracket-style tournament in which you, the fans, can vote for your favorite points and ultimately the best of the season.
The group stages will run daily from Nov. 25 to Dec. 8, consisting of 14 groups of eight points each, organized from the 51 Hologic WTA Tour tournaments of 2024.
Each group winner, plus two "lucky losers" -- the second-placed points with the highest vote shares when the polls close -- will advance to two semifinals of eight points each on Dec. 10.
The top two points from each semifinal will advance to the grand final on Dec. 12.
We've selected 112 points from the past 12 months that brilliantly showcase the athleticism, power, touch and creativity in women's tennis. Now it's up to you to select the best of the best.
Group H comprises May and July's clay-court WTA 500 and WTA 250 tournaments across Europe and Africa.
Vote in Group A: Brisbane / Auckland / Adelaide / Hobart
Vote in Group B: Hua Hin 1 / Linz / Cluj-Napoca / Austin / San Diego
Vote in Group C: Abu Dhabi / Doha / Dubai
Vote in Group D: Indian Wells / Miami
Vote in Group E: Charleston / Bogota / Stuttgart / Rouen
Vote in Group F: Madrid / Rome
Vote in Group G: Nottingham / 's-Hertogenbosch / Berlin / Birmingham / Eastbourne / Bad Homburg
Vote in Group I: Washington D.C. / Toronto / Cincinnati / Monterrey / Cleveland
Vote in Group J: Monastir / Guadalajara / Merida
Vote in Group K: Beijing / Wuhan
Vote in Group L: Seoul / Hua Hin 2 / Ningbo / Osaka / Tokyo
Vote in Group M: Guangzhou / Hong Kong / Jiujiang / WTA Finals Riyadh
Vote in Group N: Bonus round
GROUP H: Rabat / Strasbourg / Palermo / Budapest / Iasi / Prague
One of the most creative slice battles of the year saw Nadia Podoroska View Profile withstand every spin in the book from Tatjana Maria View Profile , including one shot that bounced sideways on the clay, in the Rabat first round. The Argentinian needed both a brilliant high backhand flick overhead and then an angled forehand pass to finally get past Maria.
Camila Osorio View Profile 's battle to cling on to this point against Laura Siegemund View Profile in the Rabat second round seemed lost when the German sent a smash down behind her -- only for Osorio to twist round, somehow get her racquet on the ball, and bunt a one-handed pass for a winner.
Peyton Stearns View Profile found herself staring down a 4-1 deficit in the Rabat semifinals against Viktoriya Tomova View Profile , but there was no question of giving in. The American chased and retrieved everything in this point, conjured up a remarkable backhand angle to win it, came back to win the match and went on to lift her first Hologic WTA Tour trophy the following day.
Gergana Topalova View Profile is almost entirely out of shot when she finds an impossible-seeming winner off a Sara Sorribes Tormo View Profile smash in the first round of Budapest. The lunging lob coming back over the net and dropping inside the court left the Spaniard, and everyone who watched it, stunned.
Martina Trevisan View Profile delivered some exceptional court coverage in the Palermo first round against Arantxa Rus View Profile , haring from one side of the court to the other before digging out this perfect backhand pass.
Anhelina Kalinina View Profile staved off set point against Sara Bejlek View Profile in the first round of Prague in memorable fashion. Both players improvise throughout, but the delicately spinning half-volley Kalinina ends the exchange with is a work of art.
Zheng Qinwen proved her defense is as strong as her signature aggression in the Palermo final against Karolina Muchova View Profile . Zheng had to deal with the Czech's full repertoire, but managed to our-manoeuvre her with a clever, wrong-footing angle on the pass.
Nothing was getting past Kathinka Von Deichmann View Profile in the first round of Prague against Anna Karolina Schmiedlova View Profile : not her most accurate down-the-line shots, nor her overheads, and not her final drop shot, which the Liechtensteiner chased down and carved into a delicately sliced backhand pass.
