The atmosphere in the commentary booth was lively.
“Wow.”
"I had imagined that Gawain could cause trouble for Nadal, but even so, I could not have imagined that Gawain could do it to this extent."
"You have to remember that he was playing against Nadal and this was his first clay-court season. It was incredible."
"Now, at the end of the second set, the pressure is on Nadal. It is certain that technology, physical strength, ability and experience are very important, but the most important thing is still willpower."
"The next step is to see who can hold on to the end."
"That's where the fun part comes in. Nadal's mental strength and willpower have always been top-notch among male players, so he is known as the Spanish God of War. But Gawain is no less capable. In this year's Australian Open final, the young player came back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat world No. 1 Djokovic, showing unparalleled willpower. He is also known as the representative of the new generation's tenacious willpower."
"There is no doubt that what follows is a contest between the two war gods."
Even the experienced commentators couldn't help but get excited at this moment. The suspense of victory or defeat hung high above the Philippe Chatrier Stadium, and the air was bubbling like boiling water.
Second serve.
Repeated landing point -
Nadal once again chose to serve from the center to the inside corner, replicating the landing point of the first serve, but the second serve was adjusted with less power and more spin, entering the serving area accurately and pressing the baseline of the serving area.
Game, calculation, and layout.
At critical moments, Nadal also showed his wisdom on the court.
Gawain failed to anticipate and his two-handed backhand was a little late. Gawain also noticed that the ball had Nadal's signature on it.
Slow and turning.
At this time, Nadal also deliberately slowed down the speed of the ball, but unlike Gawain's previous tactical purpose, Nadal sacrificed the speed of the ball to increase the rotation, and released the rotation as much as possible to form squeezing and impact.
Although Gao Wen was a little slow, in fact, he did not hit the ball in a hurry; however, the problem was that when the racket touched the tennis ball, he could clearly feel the squeeze of rotation.
If Gao Wen attacks with force, there is a high probability that the tennis ball will be hit directly away.
This is a trap. In fact, Nadal set a bait to lure Gawain to attack. Such second serve is very common in Nadal's games. As a result, the opponent often eats the spin and cannot control the ball at all.
The standard answer to using softness to overcome hardness.
"ah!"
Gawain was squeezed, and he used both hands to wrap the tennis ball and pushed it back. Apparently, Gawain also realized that when his physical strength decreased, he should avoid blindly exerting force and fighting. Offense requires strategy, and he did not swing the racket too hastily to avoid hitting the ball directly.
The tennis ball was successfully controlled and flew back to Nadal's court, but the effect was... not satisfactory.
Nadal's repeated second serve still took advantage of Kowain, causing his return line to be a little short.
According to the plan, Gawain was going to return the ball to a deep middle area to limit Nadal's choice of routes for subsequent attacks; but in the end, the return ball did not land deep enough and landed near the baseline of the serving area, forming a mid-field ball.
Danger!
Gawain immediately sounded the alarm, and then he saw Nadal take a step forward and step into the baseline. In order to shorten the time and increase the tempo, he did not even turn sideways, but directly used a backhand downward attack.
Bang! Backhand, diagonal, downward pressure, force.
Nadal's attack was very tightly connected, and the tennis ball rushed towards Gao Wen's forehand baseline triangle like a missile.
Gao Wen was slightly surprised, but reacted promptly.
With a push of the foot, he successfully reached the position by continuously changing steps. He supported himself with his right leg, swung the racket with his forehand, and made a shot with force while moving.
Sweep, impact.
Gawain chose to attack instead of defend, hammering the tennis ball hard towards Nadal's position, and the return ball that landed in the deep middle area successfully squeezed Nadal.
Nadal just entered the baseline to launch an attack, and his feet were still on the baseline. At this time, Gawain aimed at the baseline and hit Nadal head-on.
Nadal took a step back, but the ball was a little faster than expected. Nadal was still squeezed by the ball and leaned back to cushion the impact. He hit the rebound with his forehand and swung the racket quickly and pulled it up forcefully.
And rely on the quick flick of the wrist to increase the speed of the ball.
The tennis ball rushed towards Gawain's backhand. Although it did not land deep and the arc was slightly high, it landed near the baseline of the serving area. However, Gawain had no time to go to the net to pressure and could only wait at the baseline. Then he could see Nadal's strong topspin explode.
When waiting for the tennis ball to reach Gao Wen's position, the hitting point is already at the shoulder and head, and Gao Wen's two-handed backhand shot is very awkward.
In a flash, Gawain used both hands to hit the ball back and forth to create a rainbow ball.
It was not a lob, but a rainbow ball with a slightly higher arc over the net. Nadal on the opposite side also failed to get to the net in time to create pressure. When the tennis ball flew to the baseline, it was deep and spinning, creating an impact.
Gawain's ball control was very, very good. The ball landed only half a step away from the baseline, and it landed near Nadal's position, still in the middle. It bounced back and rushed directly towards Nadal.
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A bouncing ball puzzle.
At this time, Nadal's superb ability to handle sudden balls can be seen.
Nadal took a small step back with his left leg, making room on the left, and hit the rebound ball with his forehand, but his wrist was frivolous and drew a semicircle. The quick swing of his forearm hit the tennis ball back.
Forehand fast drive, this is the way Federer is very good at handling rebounds and balls under his feet, and Nadal completed the shot in his own way.
The tennis ball had just bounced off the ground when it was rushed back.
The ball went diagonally, repeated its landing point, and returned to Gao Wen's backhand again, but this time the speed was faster and the rhythm was tighter, which obviously did not leave Gao Wen much reaction time.
Reflexively, Gao Wen used both hands to backhand and stepped forward to press a straight line -
Change line.
Gawain is still Gawain. At the critical moment, even if it was a little hasty and compact, his tactical layout and game were still bold.
Straight line, deep area.
Moreover, Gawain consciously did not increase the angle and deliberately chose the landing point near Nadal.
Firstly, it creates pressure and the test of continuous rebounding of the ball.
Secondly, it is easier to adjust your steps over a large range, but it is not easy to control the space with small and trivial steps, which may lead to misjudgment of the distance between yourself and the tennis ball, and finally affect the space for swinging the racket.
Gao Wen knew that Nadal could complete the return, so he used his attack to create trouble for Nadal.
However! For the second consecutive shot, Nadal showed that his touch was no less than Federer's. He completed a golf tee-style rebound shot with two hands on the backhand position and beside his feet.
The racket is quickly pulled up from bottom to top, trying to increase friction as much as possible in a short time, and at the moment of shooting, it is swung quickly by relying on the strength of the wrist, and finally a skateboard is thrown out to attack.
Whoosh! The tennis ball went diagonally and went into the gap of Gao Wen's forehand.
Fast and urgent, like a shooting star.