Chapter 1184 Facing the Master

“1:5”, so what?

Although the score was embarrassing, Gao Wen didn't mind.

In the 2008 French Open final, Nadal played against Federer; in the 2020 French Open final, Nadal played against Djokovic. On the stage of the Grand Slam final at the Forbidden City, Nadal gave his old rival a donut in each of these two games, clearing the game with a score of "6:0" without any mercy.

This is Nadal's ability on the clay court.

So, the score is not important, not important at all.

What really matters is what went wrong in his game? This is the only focus that Gao Wen needs to pay attention to.

What's more! This is still a training match.

Here, it needs to be explained that the training matches between professional players are actually no different from formal matches, with the same process and the same rules: one side serves first, followed by the other side; then the side that wins six games first wins, and if it is "6:6" it goes into a tiebreak, and so on.

However, a training match is a training match after all. Is there no difference between it and a formal match? Except that the win or loss is not included in the formal match data.

Yes, of course.

It doesn’t mean that you can’t be serious about training matches, just deal with them casually, or have some fun. All coaches and professional players understand one thing:

Only by taking training seriously can you achieve training results, transform the training content into your own abilities, and apply it in competitions.

The real difference lies not in attitude but in tactics——

It can be understood this way: the main purpose of training is to train your own abilities and improve them.

Therefore, before each training game, the coaching team will also formulate tactics and see the purpose of this training game.

Sometimes, we train the players' strengths to try to find their touch; sometimes, we train the players' weaknesses in the hope of making up for them; and sometimes, we train the players' tactical combinations, trying some fresh, different, and changed tactics, and arranging and combining our existing weapons.

Giant players like Nadal are often the latter two, either training their weaknesses or training tactics, trying out tactics or weapons that would not be used in official competitions, slowly honing them through training matches again and again, and then applying them to actual competitions to open up the situation.

The simplest and most intuitive is the distribution of ball landing points.

In official matches, Nadal's ball landing points are often changing, because he knows that Koeman's two-handed backhand is very stable and sharp enough; at the same time, he may focus slightly on the forehand, especially in key shots, to break the balance by putting pressure on Koeman's forehand.

But today, in the practice match, Nadal's shots were clearly focused on Gawain's backhand.

Of course, it can be said that Nadal is looking for his forehand touch, and it can also be said that Nadal is testing the limits of Gawain's backhand.

After all, this is training.

In other words, on the one hand, Nadal focused on attacking the backhand position where Gao Wen is best at; on the other hand, Nadal kept trying new tactical combinations.

At the same time, due to injuries, Nadal is no longer in his best condition. While training with Gawain, he is also adjusting and exploring.

However, it was this Nadal who, relying on his foundation on clay, easily widened the score and took a distant lead. This was the crux of the matter.

What is certain is that the movement of clay feet must be one of the reasons. The basic skills cannot be made up in three to five days.

But is it just because of that?

On the sidelines of the court, Agassi and Sampras had been whispering to each other, waiting for the training match to be over before conducting an in-depth analysis.

At the same time, Gawain's mind was working rapidly.

Today, Gao Wen came to train with Nadal with the intention of learning.

He would never think that defeating Nadal at the Australian Open means that he has mastered the code to victory. Every game and every encounter is different. Similarly, he would never think that his excellent performance on hard courts means that he will be invincible on clay. These are two different things.

To study, you need to have the right mindset and a positive spirit.

In the past in the NCAA, when facing a brand new opponent that he met for the first time, Gao Wen would often let go and try some different things before formulating tactics.

Later, after he had a coaching team, the job of analyzing opponents fell to Sampras, and it was no longer necessary, after all, the margin for error in professional competitions was limited; but Gawain would still habitually test his opponent's condition and tactics and respond on the spot.

Now, facing the training match of the "clay version" of Nadal, Gao Wen also thought that he should make some attempts.

What came to my mind was the match against Nadal in the capital last year.

At the time, neither Gawain nor Nadal were in their best form, so the match was very tense, with both players making adjustments to their shots and tactics.

At that time, Gao Wen's batting feel and accuracy were not good, and he was forced to enter a baseline tug-of-war mode, continuously ensuring that the return ball could enter the boundary.

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However, he always made mistakes in the winning shot, lacked the means to score points, and the quality of his defensive returns was mediocre, and finally he fell into a rut of running around in a hurry.

Now, the situation is slightly different.

Gao Wen dared to attack and his touch was good, but because he lacked the "great force makes miracles happen" shot that could release energy instantly, he was unable to break the balance.

Nadal is a master at turning defense into offense, especially on clay. His countless miraculous shots are always breathtaking.

So, can he learn from the tactics of last year's Asian season, make some adjustments, and then find his own way of playing on clay? In short, Gao Wen has the ability to attack, but this ability is not enough to make the final decision on the clay court. He can adjust his plan: focus on the effect of each shot, like Nadal, start with defense, then accumulate advantages through offense, and patiently look for opportunities.

Of course, Nadal's defensive ability is at the pinnacle, and he definitely has an advantage in long-round tug-of-war. But if Gawain was afraid of a tug-of-war with Nadal from the beginning, and opened the clay court match with fast-paced short rounds on hard courts, there would be absolutely no chance of success.

No matter what, it's always worth a try, isn't it? Since the opponent on the court is the strongest and best clay court player in history, Gao Wen should seize the opportunity and learn from the master in front of him.

This is also the meaning of training matches.

Snap. Snap.

Gao Wen is ready to serve.

This was a must-win serve game in the first set. Even though this was a training match with a different intensity and mentality, it was still a severe test.

Gao Wen had read a report focusing on China's ace table tennis team. They often practiced in team training matches: "8:8", or "9:9", or else "10:10".

That is the crucial score, and the team will suddenly die if they are not careful. Although it is just a training match, through training day after day, the players' tactical qualities can be fully mobilized, so that they can stay calm at critical moments and find ways to break the deadlock. It is also a training for the nerves.

So, how should we play the next serve game that we have to defend? (End of this chapter)