Unraveling the mystery behind a fierce tennis shot – Can you guess what it is?

In tennis, a lob is a shot hit with a pronounced upward trajectory, often with the intention of sending the ball over the head of the opponent. It is a defensive shot that is often used when an opponent is at the net. The idea is to hit the ball high and deep to force the opponent to move back and possibly hit the ball on the run. A lob can also be hit as an offensive shot, known as a smash lob, where the intent is to hit the ball high and deep with enough pace to make it hard for the opponent to return. The term “lob” can be used as a noun to denote the shot itself, or as a verb to describe the act of hitting the shot. Therefore, the answer to the crossword question “Tennis shot that might be smashed back is LOB” is LOB.