Pounding, adjusting, moving——

Gao Wen's prediction was very accurate. He moved sideways and got into position in advance at the first moment, buying precious time for his defensive counterattack.

The key point is, how should we attack? Gawain's attention was highly focused, and he stared at the tennis ball intently. It was fast, flat, low, and heavy. There was almost no rotation during the entire flight. It was like a sword beam, rushing towards him in the blink of an eye.

Although the footsteps are in place half a beat earlier, the time to hit the ball is just a moment of thought. Any distraction may cause you to miss the opportunity to hit the ball, and the advantage gained by quick movement will be wiped out, and you may even turn around and fall into a passive position.

But that’s the grass.

Focused, calm, and steady, he completed the forehand shot in the first possible moment.

At the moment of racket release, the wrist swings and moves quickly, the speed of the racket head instantly rises to a higher level, and the powerful whip-like strike is completed by relying on the swing of the forearm.

Bang.

Clean and crisp.

The tennis ball flew out.

straight line.

Blind spot.

When hitting the ball, Gao Wen acted decisively, aiming at the blind corner of Istomin's backhand baseline, and his attack was quick and clean without any hesitation.

At this moment, we can see Gao Wen's tenacity. Even though he was at a disadvantage throughout the game, he kept his faith and kept fighting and striving.

However--

The feel of the ball is still mediocre, and the touch at the entire moment of the racket is still unable to perfectly interpret the flight and rotation of the tennis ball. Even though the racket is very decisive, the rhythm of the hit is still slightly misplaced and it doesn't feel right.

It's like petting a cat. On the surface, the fur looks very smooth, but when your fingertips touch a few spots where the fur is still spreading out.

Especially on grass, such a slight deviation in detail will lead to a relaxation of control due to the faster pace, and the final error will be magnified.

The tennis ball is flying.

The flying parabola could not be suppressed. It should have been a straight line heading for the winning point, but the tennis ball went over the net at least fifty centimeters high, like a rainbow bridge, flying from Gawain's forehand corner to Istomin's backhand corner. The speed and rhythm could not be increased.

Moreover, due to his poor sense of the ball, Gao Wen did not really aim at the blind spot to attack, leaving room for errors in both the line and the landing point, which also meant leaving room for the opponent to return the ball.

In short, the batting did not achieve the effect that Gao Wen expected.

Obviously, Gawain was also well aware of this. The sense of the ball was not like magic, which could not be recreated out of nothing by chanting a spell.

He kept his nerves tense, took small steps to adjust his center of gravity, quickly returned to defense, followed the flight of the tennis ball, and quickly glanced across the court. Sure enough, he saw Istomin's figure quickly crossing the court.

There is no doubt that mobility is also one of Istomin's strengths.

In the previous shot, after a run-up sprint and a forehand sweep attack, Istomin braked on the spot, used his hands and feet to control his center of gravity, and then pushed off the ground to start again, demonstrating his excellent movement on the grass.

Running, sprinting, moving sideways—

If Gawain's forehand straight line can suppress the parabola and complete a flat attack, then Istomin will find it very difficult to touch the ball no matter how fast he runs.

Unfortunately, there is no if.

Istomin's frenzied sprint bought him a glimmer of hope, but even so, Istomin had almost no space to hit the ball. He had no choice but to hit the ball diagonally, and his two-handed backhand barely wrapped around the tennis ball and smacked it.

Rainbow ball.

In a passive situation, Istomin hit a full parabola rainbow ball, and the tennis ball flew high towards the deep area of ​​​​the baseline at Gao Wen's backhand position.

Despite being passive, Istomin still showed excellent defensive qualities.

Defense is also the key to this game.

Istomin put pressure on Gawain's offense through tenacious defense. The more entangled he was, the more risks he would take, and risks would naturally lead to mistakes.

However, everything in the world is a double-edged sword, with advantages and disadvantages, and the most important thing is how you face and deal with it: facing tough and stubborn defense, if you become more and more impatient and eager, fall into the trap of blindly exerting force, constantly speeding up, and pursuing blind spots, expecting that you can tear open the way with faster and stronger offense, then there will be more and more offensive mistakes, which is also a common problem for young players.

But if one can remain patient, keep trying and failing, keep a clear mind and rearrange the game, then the tense offensive and defensive battles will become the best training for adjusting the feel of the ball and the state, which is exactly what Gawain needs - after all, there were basically no rounds in the two games of the Queen's Club Cup.

Gao Wen's mind is very clear. In fact, he is in good shape now and there is no problem. This is completely different from the ups and downs in the Australian Open final. The problem he needs to face now is to adapt to the grass. He needs more time and more confrontations to slowly adjust his ball feel and rebuild his game.

Even at this moment, it is no exception——

We cannot give up trying just because it is a crisis or because we are on the edge of a cliff.

For Gawain, it is better to die standing than to live lying down. This is true for his game, his life, and his dream.

"Focus, focus, focus", this is the only thought in Gao Wen's mind at this moment.

move.

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run.

in place.

In this round, the offensive initiative was always in Gawain's hands. Although Istomin also tried to counterattack, the initiative was still on Gawain's side.

His eyes were fixed on the tennis ball, and he scanned Istomin's position with his peripheral vision.

Stay where you are.

Obviously, Istomin judged that Gao Wen should continue to choose the diagonal line, and the two people confronted each other on the backhand position because Istomin's return ball was indeed difficult to control.

Rainbow ball, strong topspin, high and floating.

Even on grass, forcing a topspin lob from the baseline can still produce a return ball that bounces very high. However, there is a risk that the topspin will be swallowed up by the grass, and the bounce height may be much lower than expected.

On clay, such a return ball often bounces above the head; on grass, such a return ball may bounce to the chest level.

There is a clear difference in the effect of topspin.

Of course, compared to grass court where the ball generally bounces between the waist and thighs, the rebound height at this time can reach the chest or even the shoulders, which is indeed very high; coupled with the smoothness of the grass, the rotation is almost completely eliminated, and instead there is a kind of continuous forward momentum, so the high ball near the shoulder lacks friction to handle, and it is easy to make mistakes if you are not careful.

So, generally speaking, players may choose to transition in one shot and then rearrange their position.

This is how Istomin judged that the diagonal line should be a high-probability event, and most of the time throughout the game today, Gao Wen would indeed choose this way.

This time, however, Istomin made a wrong judgment.

But see——

Retreating, pausing, pushing off the ground, Gawain took a small step back with his left leg and stomped hard on the ground, almost sinking into the grass to support his body; at the same time, his upper body leaned back slightly, continuing to create some space, and his backhand shot slowed down significantly, by a whole beat.

Wait, wait patiently, not to rush for the rising point, but to wait for the tennis ball to fall.

Immediately following.

Rack, swing quickly, skateboard...power, released instantly - in a straight line!