Chapter 1257: Enemies Meet

"...Do your best in the competition. I'll be warming up on my bike while watching the competition."

With a smile on his face, Nadal hugged and greeted Gawain and Dimitrov respectively. It was obvious that he was in a good mood and was ready.

Today, the last major event in Monte Carlo is the upper half of the men's singles semi-finals, where Djokovic and Nadal face off again.

Because of this, Nadal arrived at the venue early in the morning, began to warm up step by step, and prepared for the game step by step.

Before entering the two singles semi-finals, the men's doubles final took place first, opening the full-day schedule of today's center court, so Gao Wen and Dimitrov arrived at the court earlier, completed all pre-match preparations, and met Nadal when they left the gym and went to the court.

Nadal had a good relationship with the two young men in front of him. As soon as he met them, he took the initiative to come over to greet them enthusiastically and gave them his sincere blessings.

After saying goodbye to Nadal, Gawain and Dimitrov put on their equipment bags again and headed towards the player tunnel.

Standing at the entrance and putting down their equipment bags, the two people began to activate their muscles, doing some simple stretching exercises, and waiting for the arrangements of the organizing committee.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Dimitrov took two deep breaths in succession, trying to regulate his heartbeat. Noticing Gawain's gaze, he gave a restrained smile and admitted it frankly.

“A little nervous.”

What Dimitrov didn't want to say was that he actually had a little unpleasantness with Rashid yesterday.

Rashid believes that in the last two doubles matches, Dimitrov was not active or proactive enough, and had no initiative in tactical layout, which was basically entirely decided by Gawain. Perhaps this was conducive to winning the game, but it was of no benefit to Dimitrov's preparation for the clay court.

"Don't forget, doubles is entertainment and auxiliary, singles is the focus. Our ultimate goal is not the doubles championship, but a breakthrough in singles."

Dimitrov understood that Rashid was thinking about him wholeheartedly, but he didn't understand why he couldn't just enjoy the joy of tennis? He hadn't enjoyed the game for a long, long time. Every time he played a game, it seemed to be a kind of pressure. The depression and hardship made him just want to escape from the court. But now he finally found some happiness and started to enjoy the game again. Why couldn't things be simpler?

Because of this, Dimitrov and Rashid parted ways unhappily.

Inevitably, my attention is a little distracted today.

Of course, I am nervous, and that is true.

Because of his overall poor form this year, Dimitrov has not won consecutive games for a long time, let alone advancing to the finals.

The last time he reached the finals was in Stockholm last October. That means it was a full six months before he returned to the finals again. Even though it was a doubles match, he felt a little subtle.

Gao Wen didn't know about Dimitrov and Rashid, but he knew that Dimitrov had a hard time in the first quarter of this year.

The corners of Gao Wen's mouth rose slightly.

"Tension is a good thing. It represents desire and motivation."

"Also, it was my first time playing in a Masters doubles final, so I was a little nervous. Should we put our left foot first or our right foot first? Is there any difference in flipping a coin? Wait, we've made it to the Masters doubles final, so is the next step going to be the Grand Slam doubles final?"

"What do you think? Will we become clay court doubles experts? And open up a whole new chapter in our careers?"

He chattered on and on, his words containing a hint of teasing and excitement. Even without the need for any special content, a smile appeared on Dimitrov's face.

Even though he knew that Gao Wen was talking nonsense, Dimitrov still chuckled and nodded repeatedly, "That's right, the next stop is the French Open final."

My mood became relaxed again.

As he was talking, he heard a noise behind him. He glanced around and saw a familiar figure——

Sok.

Today, Gao Wen and Dimitrov's opponents in the Monte Carlo men's doubles final are the combination of Sock and Pospisil.

So, is this a case of enemies meeting on a narrow road?

But in fact, Dimitrov and Sok had a good relationship. As soon as they met, both of them smiled and walked quickly towards each other to hug each other, so that Gawain and Pospisil, who were a little slower, were "left behind" and kept a distance.

Jack Sock, born in 1992, is actually from the same group of players as Dimitrov. Because his last name "Sock" literally means socks, he is affectionately called "Classmate Socks" by fans.

Sock, who became famous at a young age, won the US Open Junior Championship in 2010, becoming the first American male player after Roddick to accomplish such a feat. He is also known as the young hope of American men's tennis.

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However, after turning professional in 2011, Sock was slow to adapt to the rhythm of professional competitions. He occasionally had some outstanding performances but it was difficult for them to be connected in a coherent manner. His performances in different competitions were also very unstable. It was not until 2014 that his world ranking stabilized in the top 100.

The former talented young man was not able to make a splash in the professional tennis world.

However, Sok's talent is indeed worthy of recognition.

First of all, he is a typical North American hard court player with a sharp and powerful forehand, which is very aggressive and entertaining to watch. He also has different hitting techniques and handling methods. This weapon alone is indeed at the top ten or even top five level in the world.

Secondly, he is not so typical. He is a player with good basketball IQ. He actually has quite a lot of ideas when it comes to choosing batting routes and tactical layout. He also dares to take action and try boldly in actual games, which also makes his games more enriched.

Finally, he is a player who dares to change and is not stubborn. In fact, his forehand is one of the few players in the tour that has both flat and spin capabilities. When spin is required, his forehand average speed can reach 3,000 revolutions per hour, only slightly behind Nadal.

For various reasons, it can be seen that Sok has excellent weapons and unlimited potential. The key lies in how he should realize it.

After turning to professional competitions, Sock himself was very confused and could not find his rhythm, so he chose doubles.

Firstly, his playing style is indeed very suitable for doubles matches, with rich tactics and varied techniques, which also makes him a top doubles player.

Secondly, slightly different from other singles players, he also hopes to improve his singles level through doubles, but he is not just playing for fun. Instead, he uses competitions as a systematic training method. Therefore, his doubles matches are not chosen casually, but are carefully planned like singles.

Obviously, Sok soon proved the correctness of this choice.

Currently, Sock's world ranking in doubles is third, only behind the Bryan brothers. This is the most intuitive proof.

(End of this chapter)