Yesterday was only day one of the Rogers Cup in Toronto, but we might already have the shot of the tournament, courtesy of 20-year-old Russian Daria Kasatkina, who came up with one of the best tweener shots I’ve ever seen.
I thought it looked familiar, and here’s an almost identical rally from Jirí Veselý and Jack Sock at the Miami Open earlier this year.
Both tweener winners followed brief rallies and dug-out drop shots to volley lobs. But Kasatkina sent her between-the-legs shot up the line instead of crosscourt, a lower percentage play, and it landed right on her opponent’s baseline. It really doesn’t get any better than that.
Kasatkina won 7-6(3), 7-6(1) win over 34-year-old veteran Roberta Vinci and she’ll face fifth seed Elina Svitolina next.