Hot Shots

Vote: What was the best shot of the week?

Author: Brad Kallet
Hot Shots
3m read 17 Apr 2026 2h ago
Coco Gauff, Stuttgart 2026

Summary

What was the best shot of the week in Stuttgart and Rouen? We've rounded up our five favorites. Check them out and make sure to vote for your top pick.

highlights

Andreeva comes from a set down to knock out Swiatek in Stuttgart quarterfinals

02:58
Mirra Andreeva, Stuttgart 2026

It's been an especially thrilling week on the WTA Tour.

At the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart and the Open Capfinances Rouen Métropole in France, we've been treated to a daily dose of epic comebacks and finishes.

Mirra Andreeva coming from 4-1 down in the third to beat Jelena Ostapenko, Leylah Fernandez coming from 5-1 down in the decider to stun Zeynep Sonmez, Jaqueline Cristian saving four match points to overcome Tiantsoa Sarah Rakotomanga Rajaonah -- and that's just to name a few. (For a full rundown of all this week's classic, click here.)

With those tense finishes and marathon matches came a host of incredible points, and we've rounded up our five favorites from the past week.

Check them out below, and make sure to vote for your favorite at the bottom.

Harmony Tan's tweener

It's not every day that you see a tweener, one of the most challenging and exciting shots in a player's repertoire, and this was an especially good one.

At 2-2 in the first set, with Anna Bondar serving, Harmony Tan came in to retrieve the drop shot, which Bondar nicely lobbed to the back of the court. Tan caught up to it and, from behind the baseline, hit a perfectly-angled tweener past Bondar's outstretched racquet.

Bondar applauded the shot, as did former World No. 11 Alize Cornet, who was watching from the stands.

Bondar ended up winning the match 6-2, 4-6, 6-0.

Tweener alert! Harmony Tan pulls off one of the shots of 2026 in Rouen

Elise Mertens' nifty lob

Early in the second set, Elise Mertens pushed Karolina Muchova from side to side, then inched her way to the service line. After a Mertens volley forced Muchova to come in, Muchova dumped it softly into the service box. Perfectly positioned, Mertens hit a backhand lob over Muchova's head for the winner.

Muchova took control in the second and third sets for the 1-6, 6-3, 6-0 win.

Hot shot: Mertens conjures nifty lob to foil Muchova in Stuttgart

Karolina Muchova's brilliant forehand pass

We stay with the Mertens-Muchova match. In the critical first game of the deciding set, with Muchova on serve at 15-30, Mertens pushed Muchova deep into the corner, then switched direction to the other end of the court. That sent Muchova sprinting, and she hit a phenomenal forehand crosscourt pass, as only she can, on a ball just inches from the ground.

Hot shot: Karolina Muchova whips a brilliant forehand pass in Stuttgart

Coco Gauff's backhand slice winner

When two of the best movers and shot-makers on the WTA Tour share the court, you just know there will be some wow moments. And the match between Muchova and Coco Gauff had plenty of them. 

Perhaps the best came at 2-2 in the second set, in a point where Gauff and Muchova pushed each other to seemingly every inch of the court. After Gauff sent a booming forehand into the corner, Muchova managed to get a racquet on it and send it back softly into the middle of the court. The American responded with a strong backhand crosscourt, which Muchova sprinted and slid to get to. A couple shots later, Gauff moved Muchova in with a drop shot, and with the deuce side of the court wide open, Gauff hit a backhand slice winner into the abyss.

Just a superb point from both players.

Muchova got the win 6-3, 5-7, 6-3, her first win over Gauff in seven tries.

Hot shot: Gauff ends scrambling exchange in Stuttgart with backhand flick

Zeynep Sonmez's backhand dig

Leading 2-0 in the first set against Jasmine Paolini, Sonmez found herself wrong-footed on a shot to her backhand. Sonmez managed to twist around and, despite slipping on the clay, dug out a backhand drop-shot winner.

In perhaps the upset of the tournament, Sonmez defeated fifth-seeded Paolini 6-2, 6-2.

Hot shot: Zeynep Sonmez's tremendous backhand dig in Stuttgart

 

Summary

What was the best shot of the week in Stuttgart and Rouen? We've rounded up our five favorites. Check them out and make sure to vote for your top pick.

highlights

Andreeva comes from a set down to knock out Swiatek in Stuttgart quarterfinals

02:58
Mirra Andreeva, Stuttgart 2026