Daria Snigur’s forehand has received a lot of attention and for good reason. Snigur hits her forehands flat with an odd motion of the arm. The unique forehand completely dumfounded former world number 1 Simona Halep, who lost to Snigur in the first round at the 2022 US Open.

Speaking of her forehand, Daria Snigur said that she learned the technique from her coach Larisa Neiland:

I play flat but Larisa gave me this technique. I think it’s very good because many players cannot understand how I play. It’s not an ordinary shot.

Snigur is using an eastern grip on her forehand. You can check out the video of her forehand here. This forehand is going to trouble many players on the women’s tour for years as Snigur is only 20.

In some ways, Daria Snigur’s forehand is similar to retired Japanese player Kimiko Date, who used to hit flat shots with very little topspin. Date’s forehand was called the “pancake forehand” because of how flat she hit the shot.