Caroline Wozniacki and Angelique Kerber play a 48-shot moonball rally

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Ah, the moonball. The offensive lobbing tactic is a regular staple at junior events but rarely used on the professional level. But it took center stage as Caroline Wozniacki mounted her comeback from a set down to beat Angelique Kerber in the BNP Paribas Open quarterfinals. After a first set that saw Kerber blasting Wozniacki off the court and feeding off pace to redirect winners, Wozniacki used the high-arching ball with more frequency in an attempt to get Kerber out of position and goad her into making errors. The tactical changed worked. Kerber admitted she was surprised to get so many off-pace balls and struggled when she tried to step in and hit them for winners. Wozniacki went on to win 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 to advance to Sunday’s final.

At one point in the third set the two engaged in a 48-shot rally that lasted over a minute, exchanging sky-high moonballs that soared off the screen and earned repeated chuckles from the crowd. Check out the video.

The WTA needs to buy the video rights to that rally to ensure it never gets released to the public again. #BNPPO13—
Beyond The Baseline (@SI_BTBaseline) March 16, 2013

Maria Sharapova watched some of the match as she waited to get on court. “It was interesting shot selection. I don’t know. You’re not there, so when you’re watching TV it seemed a little odd from the TV, but I’m sure there was a reason why during the point that was done. But they looked like they were really high and they all kept going in. I was like, that’s a really good effort,” she said laughing. “I don’t think I can do that.”

“I was trying to figure out a way to win,” Wozniacki said. “And it doesn’t really matter how, you know? It’s just important to win the points, basically. I felt like I got some nice points out of it, and I felt like I could go from defense to offense that way as well.”

“It’s a game of chess. It’s a game of finding out where is the toughest for the opponent to get to the ball.”

Kerber, clearly disappointed after the loss summed up her night thusly: “It’s a different style of game, but it’s tennis.”

Twitter lit up during the match, with fans and pundits reveling in the the sublime absurdity of some of the rallies. Here are some of the best tweets from “Moonballgate 2013″:

Caro just pulled out a page from her Warsaw 12 & Under marathon victory over Kerber: a double moonball & drop shot winner combo—
Matt Cronin (@TennisReporters) March 16, 2013

Wozniacki's last moonball lasted longer than the Isner-Mahut match—
Ricky Dimon (@RD_Tennistalk) March 16, 2013

"The emergence of the moonball, thought to be long extinct. No, it's alive and well here at Indian Wells." Skinner is in RARE form.—
unseeded & looming (@unseededlooming) March 16, 2013

My fav comment was Lindsay Davenport saying she was "rendered speechless"by that moonball sequence.#BNPPO13—
linda martin (@lindasportsfan) March 16, 2013

The peanut gallery dislikes off pace/moon balls, but I don't remember reading anywhere that it's illegal. Junk ball is part of the sport.—
Douglas Robson (@dougrobson) March 16, 2013

Juniors stop moonballing for one reason: it's ineffective. Better players solve it. But if it worked, they would not stop.—
Douglas Robson (@dougrobson) March 16, 2013

I understand, I really do. I hated playing moonballers. Drove me crazy. Aesthetically unappealing. In the end, it's about the W, right?—
Douglas Robson (@dougrobson) March 16, 2013

Anything you can moonball I can moonball better.—
Lindsay Gibbs (@linzsports) March 16, 2013

@SI_BTBaseline it's the players who don't grasp competition who decry legit techniques such as the moonball.—
Joel Drucker (@joeldrucker) March 16, 2013

"Oh thank god." — The Moon.—
Courtney Nguyen (@FortyDeuceTwits) March 16, 2013