Oh!
The whole audience exclaimed——
It was just a hair's length away. Just now, Gao Wen intercepted the ball in front of the net. After the Hawk-Eye replay, it was still out of bounds. However, it had to be calculated in millimeters. Even the Hawk-Eye system had to zoom in again and again before the hair's length gap could be seen in front of it to confirm the referee's decision.
It's hard to believe, but out of bounds is out of bounds.
"40:40".
In the players' box.
Sampras covered his cheeks in disbelief, let out a silent cry towards the sky, closed his eyes tightly, and did not have the courage to continue watching.
Agassi crossed his arms across his chest with a stiff look on his face, sitting there with his muscles stiff, trying his best to control himself and continue watching the court.
They all knew that this match was ten times more dangerous than the Australian Open final. The combination of various subjective and objective factors had added countless difficulties to the match. The worst and most dangerous thing was that Gawain still hadn't found the correct way to play on the grass court.
But what else can they do?
Experience, this is the mountain that now stands before Gawain. There is no shortcut and no trick. The only way is to fight and strive in every game, to accumulate the experience of victory and failure down to earth, and finally transform it into your own wisdom and wealth.
Especially the transition from the clay court season to the grass court season is always a severe test, and even the top players are no exception.
In 2005, Nadal won the Roland Garros championship for the first time in his career, but then he came to Wimbledon and was eliminated in the second round. It is so simple. All players, including the Big Four, must go through this process.
Take a deep breath! Agassi reminded himself, turning his head and glancing back -
Gao Hongli stared at the court with a serious expression, without saying a word. Although he tried his best to control himself, his brows were slightly furrowed, revealing a hint of nervousness.
Jiang Yanyun leaned forward and looked at the arena, with his hands clasped together on his thighs. The muscles on the back of his hands and forearms were tense from exerting too much force.
Both of them had solemn expressions, but neither of them looked away, because they knew clearly that Gawain needed spiritual support at this moment. They needed to make Gawain realize that he was not fighting alone. They were his backing and motivation to fight side by side with Gawain.
"…Pete!"
Agassi called out in a low voice.
Sampras did not respond, but he took a deep breath and then opened his eyes, expressionless, looking at the court intently.
Maybe the time was not long, but they accompanied Gawain through countless storms. Although they could not predict the outcome of today's game, they could confidently assert that Gawain would not surrender until the last ball and two jumps before declaring the game over.
"Seed Grave"? Then let them see which is stronger, the curse or Gawain's spirit.
——The next second.
“Ah! Ahhhhh!”
Istomin roared, spread his arms, howled toward the sky, and released all his emotions passionately. Even through the sports glasses, one could feel the high morale shining in his eyes, which was released completely and without reservation.
Match point has arrived!
Istomin dared to take action, and in a passive situation he hit a magical shot, a two-handed backhand straight line back ball, pressing the blind spot, and nailing Gao Wen's defensive steps in place.
With the winning point, Istomin got the break point and match point, the first match point of the game, which really pushed Gao Wen into the corner of the cliff.
It only took a blink of an eye for the team to go from a 40:0 lead to a 40:AD passive position, and then the game situation was pushed to an unexpected position.
The air is burning——
It must be admitted that Istomin is not as easy to deal with as imagined.
So, who is Istomin? Didn't Gao Wen have good luck in the first three rounds and would not face any serious challenges and would easily advance to the round of 16? Didn't the organizing committee think that this Asian civil war lacked suspense and therefore arranged it to be played on the second court?
Istomin, a player from Uzbekistan, was born in 1986. He turned to professional tennis in 2004. After making breakthroughs in the spring hard court season in 2009, he was promoted to the top player in Asia and stayed in this position for five years until Kei Nishikori completely rewrote history.
Before Kei Nishikori and Ko Wen emerged, Istomin represented the highest level of Asian men's singles. His best result in the three Grand Slams except the French Open was reaching the fourth round. His highest world ranking in 2012 was 33rd. There is no doubt that he is a tough player.
Later, when people mentioned Istomin, it was often not his performance in winning the men's singles championship at the Asian Games in 2018, but his upset elimination of Djokovic in the second round of the 2017 Australian Open after a five-set battle.
Putting aside his green and green days, Djokovic has had an outstanding record in Australia since completing his transformation in 2007. His worst performance was the fourth round in 2007 and 2018. At all other times, he at least reached the quarterfinals, and once he reached the semi-finals, he would definitely win the championship. He is undoubtedly the king of Melbourne.
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However, the only exception was in 2017, when Djokovic was unexpectedly eliminated in the second round, causing widespread shock, and it was Istomin who defeated Djokovic.
Maybe Istomin is not a top player, but he should not be underestimated.
Istomin's game, to some extent, has many similarities with Djokovic. He has a balanced forehand and backhand and excellent serve reception. Although his serve is not strong, he has rich control over the landing point and tactical routines. Among them, the most powerful weapon is undoubtedly the backhand.
Our gaze returns to the present time of 2015.
This year, Istomin's career hit a low point due to injuries. He had a bad start since the beginning of the year, starting with three consecutive losses and being eliminated in the first round of the Australian Open.
Then, in the spring season, his performance improved slightly, but it was still unsustainable. He couldn't even win two games in a row. He was either eliminated in the first round or the second round in all tournaments. He struggled and suffered all the way. After being eliminated in the first round of the French Open, he created the worst start of his career.
Judging from all the signs, Istomin's season has not shown any signs of recovery, and his world ranking has slipped to 77th, and this is no exception in the grass season.
In the warm-up matches before Wimbledon, Istomin played in all the matches in the first two weeks, but only won one and lost two. So he had to go to Nottingham to play the match the week before Wimbledon, hoping to regain some of his touch. Unexpectedly, he reaped the rewards in Nottingham and made a strong comeback.
He won six games in a row, defeated four players ranked in the top 50 in the world, and finally defeated Querrey in the final to win the first tour championship of his career.
The twists and turns of the story are truly jaw-dropping. No one expected that Istomin would have a breakthrough at this point in time.
Then, Istomin stood on the other side of the net, ready to knock out Gawain and give the super rookie who had swept the world in the past year an unforgettable experience of being eliminated in the first round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career. He was still one point away from achieving this goal.