Hot Shots

Vote: What was the best shot of the week?

Author: Brad Kallet
Hot Shots
3m read 26 Jun 2026 3h ago
Tatjana Maria, Eastbourne 2026
interviews

'I stuck it out pretty good': Naomi Osaka on reaching her first grass final

02:06
BAD HOMBURG - POST-MATCH INTERVIEW - SF - NAOMI OSAKA - ENGLISH_Digital Download_m50715

The final tournaments of the Grass-Court Swing before Wimbledon took place this week in Bad Homburg and Eastbourne.

With most players now fully in grass-court form, we were treated to some spectacular matches and some vintage grass hot shots.

We combed through all the matches in the lead-up to the respective finals, and these were the five best.

Check them out below, and make sure to vote for your WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz shot of the week below.

Tatjana Maria's pinpoint lob into the corner

Tatjana Maria absolutely loves the grass, and that's because it's the best surface for her arsenal of weapons.

In this point against Tereza Valentova, the 38-year-old German drew Valentova in with the slice, then hit a gorgeous lob, on the short hop, into the corner. 

Maria won the match 6-3, 7-5.

Hot shot: Maria slices and dices and lobs for the winner in Eastbourne

Mirra Andreeva's spinning forehand dig

Have you ever seen this before? We're not sure we have. After Ekaterina Alexandrova hit a booming forehand into the corner, Mirra Andreeva sprinted and countered with a dig from well behind the baseline. The high ball, with so much spin, landed over the net and bounced back onto Andreeva's side, leaving Alexandrova befuddled. 

Alexandrova ended up upsetting the French Open champion 6-3, 6-4.

'It bounced back!' Mirra Andreeva finds unlikely winner in Bad Homburg

Anastasia Zakharova's forehand winner

This was one of the points of the tournament. At 3-3, 30-all, Anastasia Zakharova hit a deep lob that landed on the baseline. Yuliia Starodubtseva got to it and dumped it into the middle of the court, and three strokes later Zakharova won it with a forehand winner.

Zakharova won the back-and-forth match 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

Zakharova starts with the backhand, finishes with pair of forehands to set break point

Clara Tauson's lob winner from behind the baseline

On her third break point, Clara Tauson drew Diana Shnaider in with a drop shot, then hit a perfect lob, from behind the baseline, that sailed right over her head for the winner.

Tauson upset Shnaider 6-4, 6-4, snapping her seven-match losing streak.

Hot shots: Tauson turns Bad Homburg into Lob City

Tatjana Maria's slice volley on the run

We end, fittingly, with Maria, who's into the final in Eastbourne.

On her second set point against Zakharova, Maria stayed in the rally with some stellar defense before clinching the opener with her signature slice volley (what else?). 

Maria rolled to a 6-2, 6-1 win.

Hot shot: Maria seals opener in style en route to Eastbourne quarterfinals

interviews

'I stuck it out pretty good': Naomi Osaka on reaching her first grass final

02:06
BAD HOMBURG - POST-MATCH INTERVIEW - SF - NAOMI OSAKA - ENGLISH_Digital Download_m50715