During the break between sets, Gao Wen made plans for the fourth set. He needed to allocate his energy reasonably and readjust his tactics.

According to the plan, Gao Wen was going to focus on his own serve and concentrate on maintaining his serve.

After all, it is Thiem who is leading by a large margin and is under pressure. He only needs to continue to hold his serve to continuously put pressure on his opponent.

Then, as he enters the middle and late stages, the closer he gets to the end, the more obvious the impact of pressure will be. At that time, he will launch an offensive and try to find opportunities in Thiem's ​​serve. Moreover, by then, his physical strength should have reached its limit, and he will be able to launch a full-scale attack.

However, plans cannot keep up with changes.

In the first game, there was a slight fluctuation in Tim's serve, and then the opportunity came.

Objectively speaking, Gawain is at his physical limit, and Tim is also at his physical limit. Changes exist all the time, opportunities may appear at any time, and the whole situation is in a state of uncertainty.

Then, Gawain naturally had no reason to miss it.

Although Gawain is still at the limit of his physical strength, the opportunity is right in front of him. If he doesn't try, he will miss it. This is not like Gawain's style at all.

then--

Gawain exerted his strength.

Completely different from the first few points of this round, Gao Wen once again increased his concentration.

Game point. Break point.

Break point. Game point.

Back and forth, the stalemate continued——

Thiem, except for the first two consecutive game points, had three more game points afterwards, but missed them all.

Gao Wen had four break points but missed them all.

In fact, the confrontation was not as exciting as imagined.

Due to physical constraints, the conditions of both players declined to varying degrees. The accuracy of the rounds also fluctuated, and the proportion of errors increased. Whether it was the number of rounds or the intensity of the confrontation, none of them could be compared with the first three sets, not to mention the tiebreak in the third set.

In other words, the quality of the shots has declined.

Despite this, the close combat and bayonet fighting still made the atmosphere completely tense, with excitement and tension spreading throughout the venue.

At this time, the attendance rate of the Philippe Chatrier Stadium was close to 70%, which was a very gratifying rate for an afternoon session. The entire stadium was bustling with people, and the rolling heat waves that permeated the entire stadium were difficult to tell for a moment, whether it came from the sun or the enthusiasm of the audience.

There were eight deuces in total, and Thiem's ​​first service game in the fourth set took more than ten minutes.

How did things evolve to this point?

Everyone thought that Thiem could easily hold serve in the first serve, but the result was a stalemate. As time went on, the importance of this serve also increased sharply.

Perhaps, this could be a turning point in the fourth set?

For Thiem, he has to keep it.

However--

"Out of bounds!"

As Thiem's ​​forehand diagonal shot went slightly beyond the baseline, he gave away another break point. This was the fifth time he faced a crisis in this game.

"40:AD".

call……

The stalemate lasted a little longer, and Tim was no longer anxious. He was able to fully concentrate on thinking about how to play the current point.

District 2.

Outside corner.

At this stage of the competition, even an iron man like Thiem has physical problems. The obvious decline in the quality of his first serve is the most direct proof of this.

The speed is 180 kilometers per hour, which is a whole level lower than the previous three plates.

But Thiem still firmly grasps his strengths and his understanding of clay. Even if the ball speed is not fast, the strong rotation can still create problems.

A big outside angle, a side spin, directly pulled Gao Wen out of the field -

Classic second zone serve tactic.

With Nadal's left-hand advantage and Thiem's ​​spin advantage, choosing the outside corner in the second zone can easily push the opponent into a difficult situation.

Even though Gawain had predicted in advance that Tim might choose the outside corner, the strong rotation still destroyed his center of gravity balance, and Gawain flew out directly.

One-handed backhand!

Because he couldn't fully stretch out his hands, he might need to move two more steps, but Gawain knew that Thiem's ​​next attack would be very strong, and he needed to get back to defense quickly, so he simply chose a one-handed backhand.

With his back to the court and his wings spread out, he cut and blocked the shot with one hand.

The tennis ball draws a full arc.

Moon ball! High and deep.

Obviously, Gawain did this on purpose. His main purpose of hitting the tennis ball back with a lob was to slow down the pace of the entire round and buy himself time to defend. At the same time, he tried to make the return ball land as deep as possible to increase the difficulty of Tim's attack and win space for himself.

With a push and a turn, Gawain had quickly moved sideways, back into the field, trying to cover the court that he had completely cleared.

Tap tap.

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Tap, tap, tap! Running at full speed, but——

What? A small ball!

Just as Gawain was sprinting sideways to defend his forehand, he saw Tim's forehand raised high and gently lowered to complete the cut.

Small ball.

Faced with the opportunity to attack from the baseline, Tim unexpectedly chose to go small ball.

This is a tactical change, but it also reflects Thiem's ​​understanding of clay.

On the clay court, making full use of friction and rotation and dropping the ball is the most classic and important tactical routine. Obviously, Thiem is better than Gao Wen in this regard. When facing difficulties continuously, Thiem also took out his trump card.

Ah! A burst of energy burst out from deep within Gao Wen's dantian.

Because Thiem not only chose to drop the ball, but also chose the backslash, which was a small ball that fell on Gawain's backhand.

This also means that Gao Wen must make a "U" turn, change his running inertia and trend, drift 180 degrees, and then enter the field.

Difficult! Extremely difficult!

Gao Wen was moving at full speed without slowing down. Following the trend of rushing forward, he completed a beautiful "U"-shaped drift, cut into the court near the center of the court, and then sprinted at high speed towards his backhand position in front of the net.

Tap, tap, tap! Tap, tap, tap! The sprinting speed has reached the limit, and one can even clearly feel the burning and bursting of the calves.

Huff, huff…

The lungs were pulling like bellows, and the ability to accelerate instantly had declined significantly compared to the previous two sets. The consumption of physical energy made every muscle in the body tear, and the ankles seemed to be tied with lead blocks. Even when running at full speed, there was no burst of speed.

Huff, huff…

Every step seemed to be dancing on the tip of a knife, hot, sharp, stinging, and... burning. The burning feeling of release continued to surge and explode, pushing the body forward.

At this moment, Gawain's mind was clear, he had no concerns about his body at all, and he was doing two things at once -

Watch the rotation of the tennis ball and Thiem's ​​positioning.

Footsteps, running wildly.

Then--

A kick and a rush.

Slide.

Swish, swish, his body was pushed out. If he just sprinted with his feet, Gawain knew he would never catch up, as his center of gravity was still swaying; but this was red clay, and sliding was the essence of this court. Although Gawain was still not that proficient, he still pushed himself out.

Dust, flying.

Jersey, fluttering.

At that moment, Gawain seemed to be riding the waves.