VIDEOS: The best shots of 2014

Like any living, breathing organism, the game of tennis is in a constant state of evolution. Over the past few decades we've seen the game move from chunky wooden rackets strung with piano wire to graphite frames with springy synthetic strings; from the flat, mechanical serve-and-volley game to the whirring, topspin-heavy power-baseline game.

Comparing one era to another is an apples-to-oranges exercise, but it's safe to say that with all the advances in racket technology, athlete conditioning, and playing style, we're in a golden age of shot-making. 

Accordingly, the 2014 season brought us countless mesmerizing displays of racket artistry. Here are the five shots (or series of shots) that most impressed us.

5. Djokovic hits winner from another dimension

In quantum physics, there's a notion that space can be folded in on itself to connect two disparate points. To that effect, Novak Djokovic may represent the tennis world's best case study. 

In the first round of this year's US Open, the world No. 1 stretched all the way to his right to retrieve a sharp-angled crosscourt forehand from Diego Schwartzman. Then, rather than just floating the ball back to keep the point alive, Djokovic bent a howling forehand around the side of the net, squeezing it through the narrow chasm between the netpost and the umpire's chair, and skidding it off the sideline for a winner.

Jaw, meet floor.

4. Wozniacki runs a country mile 

Caroline Wozniacki had a huge second-half resurgence in 2014, riding a revamped backhand and renewed assertiveness all the way to the US Open final.  

In the quarterfinals against Maria Sharapova, though, she relied on her hallmark defense. On this crucial break point in the deciding third set, Wozniacki went sideline to sideline to sideline to sideline, until finally forcing Sharapova into a backpedaling backhand volley that clipped the top of the net. 

3. Monfils takes flight 

No one loses a point quite like Gael Monfils. 

The best showman in tennis gives us dozens of gobsmacking highlights every year, often on points he has no hope of winning. Because separating one from the next would be like a parent picking a favorite child, we're giving Monfils love for his most consistently entertaining match of the year - his second-round tilt with Djokovic at the Rogers Cup. 

The most electrifying exchange (starting at the :40 mark) saw Monfils knock back a leaping volley, leap again, throw his racket at the ball, and then charge headlong after Djokovic's return despite being empty-handed. 

Asked afterwards why he bothered chasing the ball, Monfils said, "fun."

2. Radwanska empties her toolkit

Agnieszka Radwanska isn't known for overpowering her opponents, but she has perhaps the most multifaceted game in women's tennis. Her arsenal is stuffed to the gills, and she made use of every weapon during her Australian Open quarterfinal against two-time defending champ Victoria Azarenka.

Radwanska flummoxed Azarenka with a variety of looks: heavy slices, tailing drop shots, cut volleys, and at least one jumping backhand overhead. 

Our personal favorite - a stunning showcase of reflexes and racket control - comes in around the :50 mark. 

1. Dimitrov hits consecutive impossible winners

Speaking of reflexes and racket control, Grigor Dimitrov gets the top spot in these rankings for his mind-bending display of both during the Stockholm Open. 

Down a set to Jack Sock in the quarterfinals, a desperate Dimitrov sold his soul to the devil, and promptly hit the two shots of the year on consecutive points. Both times he took massive Sock returns that came right into the body, and sent them back for winners by virtue of some dark art. He hit the first one behind his back, the next one between his legs. 

Sock could only shake his head, offering first a thumb, then a fist, in salute.