Nima Naderi, Tennis Connected reporter, said: “After crashing and bashing millions of tennis balls throughout another grueling season on the ATP World Tour, coming up with the shot of the year wasn’t the easiest of choices”.

“Many factors were taken into consideration, but when it was all said and done I decided to go with the heroic second set efforts of Denis Istomin during his loss to Rafael Nadal at the US Open”, he added.

“Leading 4-1 in the second set tiebreak, Istomin relied on his 6′2″ frame to scrape and spit back Nadal’s powerful ground game. After fending off a barrage of lazer-like forehands, the 24-year-old Moscow resident lured the top seed into the net, only to make him hit an uncomfortable half volley. Reading Nadal’s shot right-off-the-bat, Istomin sprinted up the low struck ball and skidded to a backhand passing shot winner”, Naderi said.

Dropping his racket before engaging in a double fist celebration, Istomin proved that even Nadal’s mesmerizing court could be outdone from time-to-time, he said.

The footage below highlights the entire second-round affair from Flushing Meadows. If you can’t wait to see the shot of the year, skip to the 7:35 mark in the video.