Tennis: Victoria Azarenka's extraordinary shot sets up win at Ostrava Open

Victoria Azarenka benefited from some incredible luck at the Ostrava Open. Photo / Twitter, Photosport

Former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka has stunned the tennis world with her gravity-defying feat in the Ostrava Open.

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

Taking the match to a must-win third set, the Belarusian was serving for the match when her backhand slice skimmed across the top of the net before toppling over the other side.

Azarenka could barely comprehend what she had witnessed, crouching onto one knee and giggling in disbelief.

"That is extraordinary," the commentator exclaimed.

Same https://t.co/SDuNrbCB3C

— victoria azarenka (@vika7) October 21, 2020

Which way will it fall?! 😅😲@vika7 | #jtbankaostravaopen pic.twitter.com/cm3dGVdNrh

— wta (@WTA) October 21, 2020

Woah! That broke lots of laws of physics!

— Amanda Bradshaw (@BradshawAJ) October 21, 2020

The ball is like...I m gonna chill up here 4 a second if y’all don’t mind!😲🤪

— 𝓝𝓪𝔂𝓪𝓷 🍃🎾🐕 নয়ন (@njb_moon) October 22, 2020

The 31-year-old finished the match with 39 winners and 18 unforced errors. She secured a 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 victory in two hours and 13 minutes to book a spot in the quarter-finals, 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 jump-start — my fighting spirit.

"(Krejcikova) started playing really well … I felt like she played really well the whole match, but she just played so loose. I didn't necessarily feel I played bad, she was just one step ahead, and I felt like everything was kind of working. What helped me was kind of to understand that I had to change and adapt.

"I needed to adjust, find a new tactic, be more aggressive, come in a little bit more, and impose myself a bit more effectively."