Brazilian tennis star pulls off 'shot of the decade' as stunned opponents applaud her
You're unlikely to see anything quite like it this year in tennis.
Alexandra Panova and Ulrikke Eikeri couldn't help but applaud Ingrid Martins after pulling off a phenomenal shot during a round of 16 doubles game at the Bad Homburg Open. Martins and Belarusian teammate Lidziya Marozava, were forced to a tie-breaker by their opposition but eventually triumphed 4-6, 6-3, 12-10 to move on to the quarter-finals.
There they will face Ukraine's Nadiia Kichenok and Poland's Alicja Rosolska on Thursday. During their last outing yesterday, Martins left spectators stunned as she hit a sensational behind-the-back shot that her helpless opponents couldn't get anywhere near.
Returning fire instinctively after Panova unleashed a vicious strike in her direction, the ball landed perfectly inches over the net. Equally as shocked by her lightning-fast reactions as her adversaries, the 26-year-old burst into laughter as the point was called.
One fan (@obemuflo) commended the strike as "the shot of the decade". Meanwhile, another (@viniaraujotenis) tweeted: "What an AMAZING point from the Brazilian Ingrid Martins!"
CARAMBA!! ������������
— wta (@WTA) June 27, 2023
Ingrid Martins with an incredible moment of magic (and/or luck!) ������#BadHomburgOpen pic.twitter.com/LJlFUAvuIC
A third (@cristiangdi) added: "This is just amazing. Luck and skill went out for a date." Tennis TV's Bastien Fachan (@BastienFachan) wrote: "One-in-a-million shot by Brazilian doubles player Ingrid Martins in Bad Homburg."
While the official Twitter account for the 2019 SEC champions Gamecock Women's Tennis of the University of South Carolina (@GamecockWTennis) quipped: "Ingrid 'Magician' Martins has a nice ring to it."
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Martins is ranked No797 in the world by the WTA as of May 8 but is better known as a doubles player. She first entered the world top 100 doubles in December 2022 and is currently placed at No72 overall.
Martins picked up a WTA Challenger title in November of last year with partner Luisa Stefani at the Montevideo Open in Uruguay and is showing immense promise this season.