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Shot of the Year already? Frenchman hits spectacular tweener in Auckland

***** I'm not sure what they're putting in the water in Auckland, but it seems the players have no problem whipping out the famed 'tweener this early in the
Courtney Nguyen|

*****

I'm not sure what they're putting in the water in Auckland, but it seems the players have no problem whipping out the famed 'tweener this early in the season. Gael Monfils was spotted giving it a go, but it's fellow Frenchman Benoit Paire who threw his hat in the ring for Shot of the Year contention.

In his second-round match against Taiwan's Rendy Lu, Paire drew Lu into the net with a drop shot to the backhand side and followed in behind it. When Lu tried to feather a backhand back down the line, Paire leaped in the air to execute a front-side tweener lob for a winner. The fact that Paire chose to go for the trick shot on game point while he was already down a set further cements his reputation as an audacious-when-it-works/stupid-when-it-fails shotmaker.

Commentator Robbie Koenig's reaction to the shot is perfect. "Oh, he's made it! Stop it. Grigor Dimitrov, take a look at this!" Koenig was referring to Dimitrov's behind-the-back touch volley in Basel last year. Here's the video:

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Courtney Nguyen
COURTNEY NGUYEN

Contributor, SI.com Nguyen is a freelance writer for SI.com, providing full coverage of professional tennis both on and off the court. Her content has become a must-read for fans and insiders to stay up-to-date with a sport that rarely rests. She has appeared on radio and TV talk shows all over the world and is one of the co-hosts of No Challenges Remaining, a weekly podcast available on iTunes. Nguyen graduated from the University of California, Irvine in 1999 and received a law degree from the University of California, Davis in 2002. She lives in the Bay Area.

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