Chapter 1183 Doubt about Life
In fact, the difference between Nadal's hitting style and tactical layout can also be seen as the difference between clay and hard courts, which once again proves that Nadal's understanding of clay is indeed unique.
First, rotation.
Someone once said that if it was the first time to meet Nadal in a professional career, the situation would be difficult, very, very difficult. On the one hand, it was because Nadal was left-handed and there were not many left-handed players in the tour; on the other hand, because of the "Nadal-style rotation", few people could adapt quickly.
Thanks to this, Nadal has always performed the best in the first encounters in his career, and official statistics also prove this. Among the Big Four, Nadal has the highest winning rate in encounters, and his advantage is obvious, far ahead.
But this is not the first time that Gao Wen has met Nadal. They have met twice, and in Melbourne Park, Gao Wen defeated Nadal in straight sets.
Naturally, Gao Wen believes that he is mentally prepared for Nadal's super topspin.
This is not about underestimating the opponent or being proud. In the final analysis, it is because of the lack of sufficient knowledge about clay. He is too young and naive. He cannot truly understand the importance of clay to spin, nor can he understand the truth that Nadal is known as the "King of Clay".
Spin! This is natural. Nadal's shots are always like this, especially his forehand. Super topspin has become a landscape in professional tennis.
It's turning, heavy, sinking and rushing.
This can be deeply felt on hard ground, but on clay, the whole feeling needs to be magnified three to five times -
Only on red clay can one truly understand what four thousand revolutions mean.
Clay has two characteristics: one is friction, which increases the tail force of rotation; the other is weight, which invisibly increases the weight of the shot.
On hard courts and grass courts, the spin is often "swallowed" by the court, and players can rely on their footwork and strength to grab some hitting points and complete the shot before the spin is fully released; but on clay, all this power will be released.
In the previous two encounters, Nadal's shots were like a heavy punch hitting the racket face, so the control of the racket faced severe tests.
In today's practice match, Nadal's shots were still heavy punches, but this time they hit directly on the chest. Not only the racket, but also the control of the upper body became a problem, and it also affected his footwork. The whole aftereffect and tail power could continue to dissipate, which really made people feel the quality of the ball.
And it didn't happen once or twice, it happened every time, one beat, two beats, three beats, and then the pressure accumulated little by little, weighing heavily on my chest.
Especially when the footwork is not in place, the impact on the return effect is very direct, and the pressure brought by Nadal's super topspin will be further highlighted.
It is conceivable that the longer the rounds are, the further the overall balance of advantage will tilt towards Nadal.
Of course, Gawain is not without opportunities. Every shot he makes could be the key to turning the situation around, but the key is that he needs to take more risks and accumulate more energy. In addition, there is the difficulty of hell that cannot be ignored. Compared with the hard court, it is one to two levels higher.
Second, attack.
On the clay court, Nadal's defensive ability and super topspin can be fully utilized. The longer the rounds, the more advantageous it is for him.
Naturally, if you want to break the deadlock, you must base your attack on defense, look for opportunities through offense, and shorten the number of rounds.
Even someone as strong as Djokovic in baseline fighting ability, who dared to fight with Nadal for six hours in Melbourne and won in the end, does not dare to fight with Nadal on the clay court.
From Djokovic to Thiem, they were able to beat Nadal on clay many times. Offense is the key, and their inspiration comes from the same person:
Soderling.
In 2009, Soderling handed Nadal his first French Open defeat in his career at Roland Garros, relying on his tough style of play with high shots throughout the court.
That year, Soderling seemed to be assisted by God. In the best-of-five match, his unrelenting and smooth tough attack was able to be carried out throughout the entire match. From the first point to the last point, he perfectly maintained his hot hand feeling, truly interpreting the meaning of "playing like crazy", and relying on his offensive power to win the victory.
Of course, no one has ever been able to replicate Soderling's feat, including Soderling himself. In the French Open final the following year, he faced Nadal again and was defeated in three sets.
After all, it is almost impossible to maintain a high-frequency state for three hours in a best-of-five match, especially against Nadal.
However, Soderling gave all players a warning: attack, this is the key.
Gao Wen strongly agrees with this.
From defeating Djokovic three times to defeating Murray and Federer in a row, and then defeating Nadal at the Australian Open, Gao Wen firmly grasped a core idea:
Dare to take action.
As a challenger or an attacker, if you are restrained and do not have the belief that you will win, then you will have no chance in front of the Big Four.
but!
On the clay court, attacking against Nadal is never an easy task.
Firstly, the weakening of strength and speed directly leads to a decrease in offensive effectiveness, and the tactics of exerting pressure through ball quality will often run into obstacles.
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What's more, Gao Wen is not a strong offensive player. The power of his pure hitting is limited, so he needs to complete the layout more through rotation, line, landing point, and tactics. Naturally, the threat and efficiency of the attack will be affected, and it is not easy to compress the rounds.
Secondly, the ball speed on the clay court is relatively slow, which will affect the rhythm of the ball. The speed-up and speed-changing attacks will greatly reduce the effect of the hitting.
Therefore, Federer's variation of playing style needs to be adjusted on clay, often requiring more patience and relying on defense to create opportunities for offense.
That is to say, when facing Nadal, they need to use offense to compress rounds, create opportunities, and prevent Nadal from establishing an advantage; but because of Nadal's top defensive ability and the weakening of the offensive power by the clay court, they must also look for opportunities through patient defense.
Thus, a vicious cycle was born.
To sum up, if Gawain prepares to face Nadal with the same tactics he used in the Australian Open, he will have no chance on clay, not at all.
You can tell from the score -
"1:5".
Gawain is in front and Nadal is behind.
Gawain hadn't been so embarrassed for a long, long time.
In fact, the score was not a problem. Next was Gao Wen's serve game. The score difference was not as exaggerated as the numbers showed. What really concerned Gao Wen was: there was no chance.
There really is no chance at all.
He couldn't remember the exact number, but he seemed to have only scored two or three points in Nadal's serve, and the whole confrontation was at a stalemate.
This situation did not make Gao Wen doubt his life, because he knew that the title of "King of Clay" was not in vain, but it made Gao Wen start to think: What did he do wrong? After switching to another venue, the difference was so obvious, which must mean that there was something wrong with his tactics.
(End of this chapter)