Chapter 1126: Serving Loophole
"Ah!"
Zverev clenched his fists and cheered himself on. The match had just started the first game, but his emotions were already fully mobilized.
His scorching eyes shot across the court, glaring fiercely at Gawain. His sharp and determined eyes were provocative, and one could even smell the bloody scent and gunpowder in the air.
“15:0”, ACE, showing momentum from the first point of the game.
"30:0", the serve at a speed of 205 kilometers per hour established an advantage, and the two-handed backhand forced a diagonal attack, which was fast and tricky, tearing through Gao Wen's baseline defense.
"40:0", the serve scored directly. Gao Wen's forehand return tried to press the serve into the deep area, but his control was not good enough and the serve went a little beyond the baseline.
In a blink of an eye, in Zverev's first service game, he had already got three consecutive game points, and the game had only been going on for less than sixty seconds.
Roaring and roaring is also a form of protest——
"Maximum consumption"? He was only allowed to take two games?
Zverev is 198cm tall and is undoubtedly one of the best servers on tour.
His serve is not a pure cannon. On the one hand, he can pursue speed. A serve of 215 kilometers per hour is not a difficult task for him. On the other hand, he can pursue angles and landing points, and complete the layout through lines. With such a serve, he can still maintain a speed of about 200 kilometers per hour.
In other words, although Zverev is not a cannon like Isner and Karlovic with aces flying all over the place, his serve is still the most important item in his arsenal.
but!
Zverev's serving technique is not perfect either, and his second serve can easily become a weakness, the main reason being his lack of core strength.
As mentioned before, tennis is a sport that places great emphasis on core strength, and the turning movement will carry out the transformation and transmission of footwork and arm strength.
However, among the new generation of players, Zverev, Tsitsipas, Medvedev and others all face a similar problem: because they are too tall, in order to ensure their mobility, they cannot gain weight rashly. The most direct result is that their "tennis waist" is not thick enough.
Naturally, when they serve, the power of the lower limbs cannot be transmitted 100%. Even if the upper limbs are extended and swung, it is difficult to bring up the power and speed. It is not obvious in the first serve. The second serve needs to be controlled and safe, so it is easy to serve into the net.
Normally, considering their height, even if they make a serve error, the serve should usually go out of bounds. However, their second serves go into the net significantly more often. Essentially, this is due to a lack of core strength in the waist and abdomen, which leads to a lower power conversion rate and problems controlling the hitting point.
This is true for both Tsitsipas and Medvedev, and Zverev is no exception.
In general, the loophole in their serving game is the second serve, which means that if they can ensure the success rate of the first serve, the threat will increase dramatically.
In the first service game of the match, Zverev served first.
We can get some clues from the choices.
Zverev was very concerned about Gao Wen's "highest consumption". He needed to prove himself and also needed to seize the initiative, so he chose to serve first.
Establishing an advantage through the first serve not only gives you a psychological advantage, but as long as you hold your serve first at the start, you'll be one solid step closer to breaking Gao Wen's highest score; as long as you can break through this shackles, most of Zverev's pressure will be relieved, and the game will be different.
This was further proven by the celebrations after scoring.
Zverev, very urgent.
So, what about Gawain?
As stable as a rock.
"Highest consumption" is purely a topic and a gimmick that media reporters like to hype. If players really believe it, they are fools.
Gao Wen is confident, but definitely not blind. He doesn't think that he can win easily every time he plays against players born after 1995. If he really thinks so, it means that pride is starting to grow, and it is very likely that he will start to lose control of the game and his opponents.
The highest consumption is not important; the game itself is what is important.
After entering the game, Gao Wen no longer thought about the "highest consumption" and instead observed Zverev's serve and tactics.
In the first three serves, Zverev's tactical intention to suppress Gao Wen's forehand was very obvious, two of them were direct forehands and one was a close forehand.
In fact, no matter how good the serve is, it also requires a combination of landing point and line. Otherwise, even Karlovic's serve will find it difficult to maintain a strong performance throughout the game. A true serving master will always change his tactical routine combination; but now it seems that Zverev has no time to think about these——
Young, or too young.
Maybe in another six months or a year, Zverev will not be so naive, but at this stage, he still does not have enough competition experience.
It was easy to expose one's tactical intentions. He tried to speed up in the opening stage, temporarily putting aside the tactical layout and ignoring everything else, just winning the first game first.
In other words, win three games first, break the "maximum consumption", and then make changes. By then, the pressure will be relieved and the brain will be able to function again.
The question is, is Gawain a wooden man? Standing obediently across the court to practice with Zverev? "40:0".
District 2.
One shot.
Inner angle.
And again, forehand.
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Speed: 213 kilometers per hour.
There is no doubt that this was the serve with the highest speed by Zverev since the start of the day, aiming for ACE.
but!
Gao Wen reacted very quickly. He took a big step forward and gently pushed and blocked with his forehand. He didn't need to exert any strength himself, but could use the opponent's force to attack.
Bang! The contact time between the tennis ball and the racket string was very short, and Gao Wen could only rely on the angle of the racket face and the action of swinging the racket to complete the control and draw a parabola.
The tennis ball was spinning at high speed, high and floating. The felt of the Dunlop match ball was relatively solid at the beginning of the game, and the elasticity of the liner was very good. The falling curve after flying to the highest point was particularly beautiful, fast and sharp, and it hit Zverev like a meteor.
Look at this arc, is it going to go out of bounds?
So, another serve-and-goal, and then Zverev easily holds serve with a "love-game"? Wait!
Just as it was about to go out of bounds, the tennis ball fell rapidly, the entire parabola was completely inward, fell vertically, and then hit the baseline.
Pressing the line!
It actually hit the line!
At the edge of the court, the linesman made a very firm in-bounds gesture, his eyes firm and unmoved.
In a split second, Zverev had no time to judge carefully, and subconsciously raised his racket, ready to hit the ball, but -
The body was squeezed badly.
Gao Wen's return ball landed near Zverev's serving position and hit the line accurately, which squeezed Zverev's swing space to the extreme.
In a hurry, Zverev only had time to hit a rebound ball with his forehand, using the movement of leaning back and jumping to increase the pulling force.
Unfortunately, the friction was not enough and the racket face was not pressed down, so the tennis ball turned directly into a skyrocket and flew towards the audience stands.
"40:15".
(End of this chapter)