The 2024 Shot of the Year Showdown hits the heart of clay season

Editor’s note: Over the next two weeks, wtatennis.com will be running 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 will 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.

Each group winner, plus two “lucky losers” — the second-placed points with the highest vote shares when the polls close — 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 F comprises May’s two WTA 1000 tournaments in Madrid and Rome.

Vote in Group A: Brisbane / Auckland / Adelaide / Hobart
Vote for 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 G: Nottingham / ‘s-Hertogenbosch / Berlin / Birmingham / Eastbourne / Bad Homburg

GROUP F: Madrid / Rome

Tweener klaxon! Nadia Podoroska not only pulled off the hot dog in the first round of Madrid, but managed a feat that’s rare even for a ‘normal’ shot — a passing shot winner against Katerina Siniakova.

For 26 shots, Amanda Anisimova tried in vain to overpower Emiliana Arango in the first round of Madrid — so on the 27th, she switched things up to a perfectly executed drop shot.

Sara Smiles Tormo was at her indomitable best in Madrid, particularly in her third-round upset of Victoria Azarenka. This forehand passing shot to save break point in the second set was worthy of the roar she let out on nailing it …

… and then just a game later, Sorribes Tormo was at it again, scampering the length and breadth of the court before putting away a delicate drop shot.

The Madrid final was an instant classic, and this was its finest moment: Iga Swiatek withstanding Aryna Sabalenka’s fiercest blows, including a forehand she barely got her racquet on, before denying her rival with a terrific forehand pass.

Bernarda Pera and Caroline Dolehide delivered a rally that had everything in the Rome first round. High-octane baseline banging morphs into a rat-a-tat cat-and-mouse exchange in the forecourt, and Pera comes up with a forehand volley at full stretch for a classy finish.

A quintessential Foro Italico outside court moment: beloved Italian veteran Sara Errani hustling and retrieving everything Amanda Anisimova threw at her before delighting her home fans with a remarkable drop shot on the run.

Iga Swiatek underlined her ‘Queen of Clay’ status by going back-to-back in Madrid and Rome. The latter title run featured another astonishing piece of defensive work against Madison Keys in the quarterfinals, which Swiatek steals with a perfectly judged wrong-footing single-handed backhand pass.