Chapter 1455: The Next Game
The first semi-final has begun.
Although Gawain and Wawrinka have a good personal relationship, the moment they step onto the court, they are competitors, competing fairly. Both of them are fighting for their first place in the French Open final in their careers. The head-on confrontation is about to break out and the tension is in the air.
Gawain was ready, and so was Wawrinka.
This is the second meeting between Gao Wen and Wawrinka after last year's US Open. They are not strangers but not familiar either. What's more, in just half a year, both players have changed. This is a brand new game and everything must start from scratch.
Wawrinka, a typical violent offensive player.
Including him, Soderling, Del Potro, Gonzalez, Tsonga, Safin, Thiem and many other players, they are all a type of players with very distinctive characteristics, building their games on powerful offense and violent strokes.
Of course, there have been many Grand Slam champions, but there is no doubt that Wawrinka is special. He is the only player who can still beat these four top players during their peak period and win the Grand Slam championship more than once.
Maybe he is a late bloomer, but Wawrinka deserves to leave his own glorious mark in the era of giants.
2014, 2015 and 2016 were Wawrinka's peak periods.
Gawain, a lucky guy, happened to play against Wawrinka for the second time during this period.
Last year at the US Open, the encounter between Gao Wen and Wawrinka was a little special.
On the one hand, Gawain emerged as a dark horse. Everyone was very unfamiliar with Gawain and lacked understanding of him. Gawain simply relied on his drive and courage to carve out a path for himself. "Fresh" was undoubtedly the key word.
On the other hand, Wawrinka experienced "Grand Slam Syndrome". Under tremendous pressure, he set higher expectations for himself, which made it difficult for him to perform 100%. He struggled more or less in the three Grand Slams after the Australian Open.
The two players fought hard for five sets, and finally Gao Wen pulled off an upset and started his legendary journey of counterattacking with great confidence.
At this year's French Open, Gao Wen has completed his transformation and is now the second seed of the tournament; Wawrinka has also gotten rid of his burden and rebounded strongly after experiencing a trough. The two players' status, mentality, position, expectations, etc. have all changed, but there is no doubt that both players are climbing to their peak. The fact that the two players can meet in the semi-finals is the best proof of this, which also indicates that the semi-finals will be a collision of brave men.
Everything is possible.
The first set of the game.
Gao Wen quickly got into the game at the beginning, seized the opportunity when Wawrinka's attacking touch had not yet fully warmed up, and calmly arranged and exerted continuous pressure.
In Wawrinka's second service game, he broke first.
Gao Wen dared to attack and break the game. He played with great courage and even took the lead before Wawrinka, leaving no chance for Wawrinka.
From the opening, it can be seen that Gao Wen's tactical formulation and execution were resolute and precise enough to firmly control the situation.
Afterwards, Wawrinka slowly found his form, and after saving two break points and narrowly holding his serve, he finally showed his offensive form.
However, Gao Wen showed superior control and concentration in his own service game, continuing his excellent serve-holding performance against Nadal in the previous match, without revealing too many flaws and leading all the way.
The entire game ended calmly. The first point was achieved smoothly without any twists and turns or tug-of-war. It was quick and neat.
Wawrinka faced a total of four break points and saved three.
Gao Wen only faced one break point, which he successfully recovered.
It took thirty-seven minutes, "6:4", Gao Wen won the first game.
In fact, this was only the second set Wawrinka has lost at Roland Garros this year.
Earlier, in the second round against Serbian player Dusan-Lajovic, Wawrinka unexpectedly lost the third set with a score of "5:7"; but then, in the round of 16 against Berdych and the quarterfinals against Federer, he won all three sets in a row, showing an unparalleled hot hand.
In other words, at least at this year's Roland Garros, Wawrinka is not slow to warm up, he gets into the game very quickly and is often able to take control of the situation right from the start.
However, the semi-finals were different after all.
This also indirectly shows Gao Wen's excellent form this year. There is no doubt that he has made full preparations for this game and is sprinting towards victory.
But Wawrinka's confidence and concentration remained unshaken. He seemed to have prepared himself mentally for the difficulties he might face. He was not surprised at all that he was lagging behind. Even though this was the first time this happened at Roland Garros this year, he remained calm.
Second set of the game.
Right from the start, Wawrinka got into his own rhythm, winning four points in a row and delivering a love-game serve, continuing his hot hand in the second half of the first set. He continued to improve his condition and entered the game step by step, which indicated early on that the second set would be even closer.
As a typical offensive player, Wawrinka's playing style has not changed even on clay. Like Soderling, he attacks, attacks, and attacks again. However, Wawrinka and Soderling's offensive styles are slightly different.
Soderling emphasizes heavy punches, while Wawrinka emphasizes sharpness, but the common point is that they are powerful and brutal.
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Both Wawrinka's forehand and backhand have the ability to suddenly exert force and launch a comprehensive attack. His best qualities lie in two aspects: first, he can attack regardless of the hitting point.
Generally speaking, players need to make adjustments through footwork and racket swings in order to find the most appropriate and comfortable hitting point to maximize the hitting effect. However, Wawrinka uses his own power to attack with one force and ten skills, and he does not need to adjust the hitting point at all.
Unreasonable.
Therefore, you can often see Wawrinka hitting some high-risk attacks, which are very performative:
The lowest level he can reach is by lowering his center of gravity to complete the attack near his knees, and the highest level he can reach is by leaning back to complete the attack near his shoulders. Both his forehand and backhand have this ability, and it is sudden and violent, covering the entire court.
Second, the concealment of the shot.
Generally speaking, the trajectory of a player's swing can determine the hitting line in advance, and there are objective differences between diagonal and straight swings.
Especially on a straight line, players need to rush to hit the ball, and the racket must be released earlier and faster.
The only exceptions are the Williams sisters.
Their backhand is an open stance that has been eliminated by modern tennis. This is a technical move designed by their father Richard-Williams after he taught himself by watching game videos. Later, the two sisters were disliked and corrected by countless professional tennis coaches, but old Richard always insisted that the sisters must adopt such techniques.
For ordinary people, an open stance means that they cannot get the hitting point, and the racket action is too slow, which makes it easy to be squeezed and cause the hitting action to be deformed, and finally they can only hit diagonally.
But the Williams sisters are different. They rely on their own strength and muscle talent to make up for it. Instead, they rely on an open stance to conceal the purpose of their shots, both diagonally and straightly, making it impossible for their opponents to predict. In the end, this becomes an important weapon for them to dominate the tennis world.
To some extent, the same is true for Wawrinka.
(End of this chapter)