Tennis: Victoria Azarenka’s extraordinary shot prepares victory at the Ostrava Open

Former World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka has surprised the tennis world with her gravity-defying feat at the Ostrava Open.

During her round of 16 match against Czech tennis player Barbora Krejcikova in Ostrava, Azarenka fought back after losing the first set on a double break.

Taking the match to a must-have third set, the Belarusian was serving for the match when her backhand shot skimmed the top of the net before falling to the other side.

Azarenka could barely comprehend what she had witnessed, dropping to one knee and laughing incredulously.

“That’s extraordinary,” exclaimed the commentator.

The 31-year-old finished the match with 39 winners and 18 unforced errors. She pulled off a 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 win in two hours and 13 minutes to reserve a spot in the quarterfinals, where she will face World No. 18 Elise Mertens.

“My fighting spirit brought me into the game,” Azarenka said.

“I started to pick up my game from there. I think it was the starting point: my fighting spirit.

“(Krejcikova) started to play very well … I felt that she played very well the whole game, but she played very loosely. I didn’t necessarily feel that I played badly, she was just one step ahead, and I felt that everything was fine It helped was to understand that I had to change and adapt.

“I needed to adapt, find a new tactic, be more aggressive, go in a little more and impose a little more effectively.”