Outside corner, 200 km/h.
Powerful flat serve, typical weapon, Tiafoe showed his signature skill——
At this point, the effect of a calm mindset could be seen. Entering the third set, Tiafoe let go of his burdens and improved his condition, and his performance got better and better.
The more critical the moment, the more courageous you should be to take action and have a big heart.
One shot, and it went in.
Gawain made an accurate prediction, but unfortunately, Tiafoe's serve was of excellent quality, leaving him no room for adjustment. He only had time to reach out and block the shot reflexively. Before he could complete the swing, the tennis ball was pushed back by the powerful reaction force of the strings.
Bang! The arc control is not good——
Although the strongest weapon of serving masters has been weakened on clay courts, it does not mean that the serve is useless. This is a misunderstanding.
At this time, Tiafoe seized the initiative with an excellent serve and saw the arc of Gawain's return ball at the first time, which was short and high.
Chance!
Tiafoe started very quickly.
One detail can be noticed here. Tiafoe's footwork on clay is not good. He still starts with an emergency stop and turn on hard ground. Although the starting speed is very fast, the acceleration after pushing off the ground is not released immediately, so that the subsequent accelerated running is also slightly slower.
From a purely visual perspective, it is difficult to see these subtle differences with the naked eye. Until the player is ready to touch the ball, the deviation in the hitting point and timing can be felt. That little difference may affect the player's hitting choice, and the original ten options are suddenly reduced to three.
Moreover, Tiafoe cannot slide on the clay court. He relies entirely on his excellent physical fitness to keep moving forward. Then you can see: the tennis ball is falling.
According to the perfect ideal situation, when Tiafoe is in position, the tennis ball should still be above the net, and he can smash it directly; but now, the position of the tennis ball is basically parallel to the net, and the gravity acceleration of the fall is still increasing, so if he still smashes it, it will easily fall into the net.
That's how details work.
and.
Gawain's serve was almost uncontrolled, with the tennis ball landing in a straight line back to Tiafoe's second-zone serving area, just one step away from the net.
This also means that Tiafoe has to use his backhand to deal with it. When the force-generating action is not easy to stretch, the hitting point is slightly slower by a quarter beat. This also means that the force needs to be more cautious and careful. If you are not careful, it may go directly into the net.
So, Tiafoe showed his imagination——
While running at full speed, take a big step, forcefully adjust the speed, and then, everything, just push.
The tennis ball spins lightly and quickly.
A full arc passed over the net, with a strong side spin, and easily returned to Gao Wen's side of the court.
Small ball!
Tiafoe once again demonstrated his top-notch delicate touch and imaginative inspiration, replaying a high-quality small ball and cleverly dealing with the crisis.
Then, the problem was thrown to Gao Wen.
Oops!
An alarm sounded in Gawain's mind.
He really didn't expect that, according to common sense, after Tiafoe successfully got into position, he would block and smash the diagonal gap with a two-handed backhand. This is a classic routine, so after he received the ball, he pushed his feet and sprinted horizontally to the left to defend his backhand gap.
result?
The most important thing is that Tiafoe not only took the small ball into consideration, but also noticed the direction of Gawain's movement, so he cut a small straight line -
In other words, the return ball went back to Gao Wen's forehand position.
Startled! Gao Wen took a step, turned a corner, and changed his route in a drifting manner, sprinting towards the serving area in the forehand position of the first zone.
Trample!
Go at full speed and give it your all.
Seeing that the tennis ball was falling faster and faster, even if he arrived safely, he might not be able to find a suitable hitting point, so Gawain started.
With a push and a rush, the whole body slid out -
Strictly speaking, Gao Wen's clay sliding is at the beginner level. He lacks more precise control over the timing of the sliding, the control of the force, the position of the sliding, etc. If he chooses to slide rashly, he may lose his position, resulting in an unexpected deviation in the hitting point:
For tennis games, choosing the right response at the right time is the key.
At this moment, Gao Wen realized that sliding was necessary, so he made a prompt decision and jumped out.
There was a burst of exclamations at the scene!
The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!
Oh! It was because of Tiafoe's small ball selection and because Gawain chose to slide for the first time in the whole game. It can be seen that before this, Tiafoe had not pushed Gawain's defense to the extreme and could control the game without sliding. But at the end of the third set, the situation had changed.
Red soil, flying.
The wind is howling.
Then, Gawain lowered his center of gravity and played with his forehand. He glanced at Tiafoe's position with the corner of his eye, but he didn't have time to make a fake move. He could only use the strength of his wrist to gently lift and push the ball, trying to unload the force as cleverly as possible and push the ball back with softness.
Generally speaking, the battle in front of the net requires strength, speed and confrontation, and the collisions between the two are dazzling. But at this time, Gawain noticed that Tiafoe's position was very close to the net. Although his height of 188 cm is not high, his coverage blocked the hitting line.
If Tiafoe doesn’t play doubles often, it’s because he has a natural talent for net awareness and a natural comprehension.
Therefore, Gawain could not force his way through the net, otherwise he would most likely be blocked by Tiafoe; he chose to unload the force, slowing down his speed and rhythm, forcing Tiafoe to take the initiative to exert force when blocking and intercepting.
Such a volley at the net does not seem difficult, but in fact, it requires extreme caution. Once there is a deviation in the process of exerting force, such as the racket face is not well controlled, too much force is applied, or the angle is too high, it may cause the ball to go into the net or out of bounds. It is not as simple as imagined.
Moreover, Gawain chose a straight line, forcing Tiafoe to handle it on the backhand, which is obviously Tiafoe's weak position.
The tennis ball flew over the net, swaying as if it would be blown away by the slightest breeze.
Tiafoe took a step forward, ready to use both hands to backhand, but after taking a look at the rotation of the tennis ball, he had no time to think about it. Another flash of inspiration came to his mind, and he changed the way he gripped the racket with his backhand. He gave up the idea of a powerful interception and instead gently picked up the tennis ball.
High ceiling.
Over the top.
In the previous shot, Gawain lowered his center of gravity to hit the ball, his whole body was almost parallel to the ground, and he crawled down completely, so that Tiafoe could easily complete the overhead shot.
The tennis ball flew over Gawain's head and toward the backcourt.
Gawain raised his head and watched the tennis ball fly over his head. With a push of his foot, his body quickly completed a second start.
Tap, tap, tap!
Running at full speed, Gao Wen rushed towards the baseline again. His acceleration had reached the limit and his body turned into a shadow.