Best Tennis Photo of All Time?

Photographer Ray Giubilo’s one-in-a-million image is both weird and wonderful.

Credit: Ray Giubilo

Of the legions of photographers from across the globe snapping untold thousands of photos at this year’s US Open at Flushing Meadows, one extraordinarily well-timed image stands out above all the others. A slight imbalance from seventh-seed Jasmine Paolini and a steady hand allowed photographer Ray Giubilo to nail a one-in-a-million shot this week.

Paolini hailed it as “maybe the picture of the year”, but the whimsical image taken during the Italian player’s first-round encounter with Australia’s Destanee Aiava could lay claim to an even grander title than that. Some shots admirably capture the heat of the battle or the winning delight of the player, but rarely are they hilarious. A split-second earlier or later would have rendered a completely different frame and missed the pure comedic value behind Giubilo’s image.

Described by The Guardian as "half terrifying and half sublime", the image was, of course, captured by complete fluke. Giubilo told the newspaper that he had “been waiting for a long time for something like this”, and that he knew what a great image he had taken the moment he saw it on the back of his Nikon Z9.

Paolini was so enamoured of the shot, she singled out Giubilo the next time she was on court for a second-round match to express her admiration. No doubt a copy of the serendipitous image will be framed and placed on her mantlepiece when she gets home.

Whilst the winner's of The World Sports Photography Awards 2025 have already been announced, it's fair to assume that Ray Giubilo’s magical snap will feature next year.