Editor’s note: For the past two weeks, wtatennis.com has run 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 have 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. Voting will remain open in all groups until the afternoon of Monday, Dec. 9.
Each group winner, plus two “lucky losers”, 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 M comprises the last three Asian WTA 250 tournaments of the season and the WTA Finals Riyadh.
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 H: Rabat / Strasbourg / Palermo / Budapest / Iasi / Prague
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 N: Bonus round
GROUP M: Guangzhou / Hong Kong / Jiujiang / WTA Finals Riyadh
Jaqueline Cristian’s legs were a blur as she covered almost the entirety of the court in this Guangzhou second-round point, eventually finding a forehand pass to deny Lucia Bronzetti.
Wei Sijia showed off all of her tricks against Wang Xiyu in the Guangzhou second round, tying her compatriot in knots with a cheeky drop-lob-drop-pass combo — the last of those shots taken as a ridiculously early reflexed scoop.
Caroline Dolehide’s 3-hour, 18-minute victory over Marie Bouzkova in the Guangzhou second round was a remarkable contest. It was highly appropriate that it ended with a 29-stroke lung-buster of a rally in which momentum flipped back and forth before Dolehide finally found a forehand putaway.
Nao Hibino was on the brink of defeat against Yuan Yue in the Hong Kong second round, but that didn’t stop her from giving the crowd one last burst of entertainment with this point. Darting up, down and side to side, Hibino’s defensive skills were on full display before she stole the rally with a backhand pass.
Midway through this point in the Hong Kong quarterfinals, Katie Boulter chased down an Anastasia Zakharova lob so deep that she ended up stumbling into the back wall. The Briton was far from out of it, though, and managed to turn it in her favor with a series of scorching forehands.
Rebecca Sramkova was the tweener queen of 2024. Following her hot-dog antics in Monastir, the Slovak was at it again in the Jiujiang final to get back into this exchange against Viktorija Golubic. The backhand angles she finds to eventually win the point are rather special, too.
Golubic came up with some dazzling shots of her own in the Jiujiang final as well. A few games later in the first set, the Swiss player delivered this masterclass of point construction, turning defense into offense with an elegant drop-pass combo.
Jasmine Paolini showed off her wheels in the WTA Finals Riyadh group stages, retrieving Aryna Sabalenka’s hardest blows and then executing an exquisite counter-drop at full stretch.