The year of the tweener: 2015's best tennis shots
Spectacular backhands, jaw-dropping returns and canny drop shots – the year saw all of these and more.
If you’re a tennis fan, times are good. The standards seem to skyrocket every year and 2015 was no exception. Titles were won after scintillating contests. Long-drawn and epic rallies were played out. But, above all, this was the year of the tweener. The tweener? Yes, the between-the-legs shot. It was Kei Nishikori who probably showed the best way to execute it – a stunning lob against Goffin at the Montreal Open. It was voted the best play of the 2015 season on the ATP World Tour website.
Of course, in what was also the year of the SABR (Sneak Attack by Roger), Federer's own tweener wasn't too shabby either.
World number one Novak Djokovic was thwarted in his quest for the French Open by yet another Swiss, but this time, it was not Federer. Stanislas Wawrinka won the French Open in an incredible display in the final against Djokovic, capped off by this miraculous backhand which seemingly defied the laws of physics and went around the back of the net.
Wawrinka backhand around the net post https://t.co/5Uqk5RjLpe
— Erik (@erkjonsson) June 8, 2015
And like Djokovic, Serena Williams, who had a stupendous 2015, came agonisingly close to winning all four Grand Slams in a year, only to lose to an inspired Roberta Vinci at the US Open semis. Watch this point below where Vinci recovers from a Serena special cross-court stroke to seal the point with an inspired drop shot.
And finally, we’ve included this at the end, because this technically wasn’t a shot that was played during a game: Djokovic’s blind pirouette while training.
