Chapter 1460 Caught off guard
Area 1, outer corner——
Aim forehand.
Although Wawrinka's one-handed backhand is one of the most violent and perfect weapons in the ATP Tour, any player familiar with Wawrinka knows that the "Four Eggmen"'s strongest and most domineering weapon is still his forehand. Although he is slightly inferior to Del Potro and Gonzalez, he can still stand out among the strong.
It is also because of this that Federer and Nadal, when playing against Wawrinka, often tend to break through Wawrinka's backhand.
This includes Gao Wen, and it is still the same today.
But realistically speaking, at this French Open, Wawrinka's one-handed backhand was indeed superb. He could attack and defend, carry and hit, and could both drive and cut. From Berdych to Federer and now Gawain, their breakthroughs in Wawrinka's backhand were relatively limited, and they instead suffered a lot of backlash.
Perhaps, the more important the moment, the more we need to break the routine.
So, Gao Wen chose the outside corner and attacked with his forehand.
Wawrinka missed the prediction, especially in the previous serve. Gao Wen's hidden trap made Wawrinka suffer a small loss. In this serve, his prediction was obviously a little slower by half a beat, but relatively speaking, his conditioned reflex nerves still kept up with the rhythm.
One kick, one stride——
This is Wawrinka's signature move, especially on clay. There is no small step adjustment, but a big stride to complete the move in one step. Even if the hitting point is a little uncomfortable, he relies on his own strength and touch to make up for it and force the ball. But it just works for him.
Forehand, sweep, and use the opponent's force to hit you.
Although his footwork was a little lacking, Wawrinka still relied on the swing of his arms, followed by the superposition of his body weight, and hit the ball with a powerful skateboard shot.
A swing and a rush.
Slash.
Impact!
The tennis ball hit Gao Wen's forehand position solidly and powerfully. This time, Wawrinka attacked. Although he lacked some independent strength, his return ball was still fast and powerful. It rushed over fiercely with a rocket tail dragging it, and dust flew up in the air.
Here, Gawain's reaction was a little slow -
He was guarding against Wawrinka's forehand straight line. Although it was difficult, Wawrinka did have the ability to attack very suddenly with a forehand straight line; therefore, he had to remain highly alert after serving, and only moved his center of gravity quickly to the right until the moment Wawrinka shot.
Tap, take two small steps in a row to adjust.
With a push, the body is pushed out.
As soon as the footsteps were in place, the right leg had already pushed against the ground to brake, completing the adjustment accurately and quickly, and following the inertia of the forward rush, the forehand shot was already out.
Whip!
Impact!
Everything is just right, the timing and position of the hitting point, the speed and power of the shot, and even the full sound of the racket strings hitting the tennis ball can be clearly heard.
Bang! It just exploded like that.
Diagonally, continue to aim for the forehand.
Wawrinka was a little surprised. Apparently, he had already moved towards the backhand position, because the entire left side of the court had been fully opened; but in the end, Gawain chose the forehand again, and Gawain's shot was very fast. He did not hit a return ball, but launched a strong forehand collision.
Violent and strong.
Unexpected, very, very unexpected. Such a situation was not common in today's game.
But Wawrinka likes——
Sudden stop, sudden turn.
With one push off the ground and one step, his body has completed the turn. With another big step, Wawrinka is already in position quickly. Then with a lateral cross step, his body has already rushed out. Without hesitation, his forehand hits head-on like a whip, exerting full force.
Well.
Ahhh! With a muffled groan, Wawrinka exerted his full strength, hitting the forehand with full power and rushing out directly.
"Forehand VS Forehand".
Diagonal, shallow landing point, tearing the angle, Wawrinka fully upgraded his forehand return, heavier and more biased, crossing the entire court with a weight as heavy as a thousand pounds.
Everyone, hold your breath, you can see it in your sight——
Gao Wen's footsteps were light and agile, as gentle as ballet. He relied entirely on small steps to adjust, cutting into the baseline at a 45-degree angle along the diagonal line, entering the doubles line, taking a big step forward, relying on the power of his body and running-up to press forward, preparing to grab the rising point.
Wawrinka tried to suppress Gawain with a forehand attack, however, Gawain not only did not retreat or compromise, but became even more aggressive.
In front of the TV, Djokovic's heart suddenly shrank and his pupils contracted. He was very familiar with this shot.
——Sure enough! Gao Wen grabbed the first shot and hit with his forehand. He didn't use his own strength, but relied on the force of the opponent's opponent to hit the ball. His forehand swept the tennis ball out.
Flat strike, out of the gun.
It can be clearly seen that Gao Wen used his body as a driving force, from footsteps to turns to swings, all in one go, further tearing the angle apart.
Slash!
Another slash again!
Moreover, the angles were getting wider and wider. This time, Gao Wen's return was almost close to the small triangle area at the bottom line of the serving area, and the side spin exploded.
The tennis ball turned into a streak of light, leaving only a blurry mustard yellow shadow, and it was impossible to capture its trajectory.
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A blink.
The next second, all he could see was Wawrinka taking a sideways step to his right and swinging his racket, but his forehand went straight into the air. He watched helplessly as the tennis ball broke through his blockade and went into the gap. Then he could hear the dull sound of the tennis ball hitting the billboard exploding in his ears, and his steps staggered.
The whole audience was silent and stunned——
"Forehand VS Forehand".
It was a collision of powerful opponents and a head-on attack, but no one expected that it would be Gawain who would have the last laugh. He was stronger, more meticulous, more confident, and more determined.
In the end, it was Wawrinka who was caught off guard.
In this point, Gawain showed not only courage, but also dominance and vigor.
Get the upper hand.
"AD:40".
After saving the match point, Gao Wen got another game point.
Wow! Wow! Wow!
Djokovic showed a strange smile, which was somewhat helpless but also somewhat admiring. Then, he took the lead in applauding Gawain.
Murray finally came to his senses and turned to look at Djokovic, "I think we may need to wait."
Djokovic smiled playfully, "Maybe. But don't forget, Stan doesn't give up that easily either."
It took two beats for the Philippe Chatrier Stadium to come back to its senses and burst into thunderous applause.
However.
Gawain, the player involved, did not roar or celebrate, but just looked at Wawrinka with firm eyes. One could deeply feel the determination in those eyes without words. It was not only the fighting spirit to fight, but also the desire for victory, just like a burning fire.
Spreading wantonly.
The tense and anxious air also began to burn.
However, this game is still not over. Although Gawain has got the game point, as Djokovic said, Wawrinka is not a pushover either.
As expected, in the very next point, Wawrinka pounced, showing off his incredible touch once again.
When receiving the serve, although his body was under pressure, when he hit the forehand, he shook his wrist slightly, which actually created irregular rotation, and the deep area near the baseline squeezed Gao Wen layer by layer. After landing, there was almost no rebound force, causing Gao Wen to complete the shot near his knees, with no chance to attack at all.
Then, Wawrinka's follow-up attack came.
One beat, just one beat, is enough.
(End of this chapter)