Chapter 1641: Head-on victory or defeat

Stalemate, entanglement.

Tight and intense.

Not giving an inch, a tiny difference, this is the norm in the duel between top masters. What determines the victory or defeat is often some details or some key points.

Matches between the Big Four are often like this. Although there are one-sided matches between them, most of the time, stalemate is the norm.

Now, the rising Gao Wen also has such ability. The same is true for his strong clash with the Big Four. Everything depends on his performance in key points.

In the first three sets, the player with better performance in key points broke the serve and won a set with a break advantage. The entanglement and tension between the two sides ran through the whole process and continued all the way to the fourth set. It even increased due to the fluctuation of physical strength, making the game closer.

At this point, the handling of key points becomes increasingly important——

Murray fully demonstrated his brain, firmly grasped his advantage of serving first, carefully and quietly avoided Gawain's sight, and deployed his strategy. In the eighth and tenth games, Murray did not act rashly, but attacked without warning in the twelfth game.

Think about it carefully, if you regard the fight in the twelfth game as a drill or warm-up: if the fight is successful, Murray can end the game directly here.

It doesn't matter if the fight fails. Just treat it as a prelude to the tie-break and shock Gao Wen psychologically to put further pressure on him.

From this perspective, Murray's tactics can be understood.

Murray is the one among the Big Four who is best at using his brain to play, which is not only reflected in the shot layout and grasp of the battle situation, but also in the psychological game.

Look, Murray is leading, "15:30".

Center court, in madness.

So, the scene just described appeared, and the audience stood up and applauded, beating the rhythm in unison, and shouting "Andy".

One roar after another, with overwhelming momentum, the home advantage was fully demonstrated at this moment.

Although only four sets have been played so far, the match is about to take three hours; and, judging from the score, Murray is in the lead, but his advantage is very limited. There are many wonderful shots in the back-and-forth and bloody clashes, and Gawain may overturn the current situation at any time.

Therefore, it is not difficult to understand the cheers of the home audience: they expect Murray to end the battle as soon as possible, to win in this game and this set, and to wait for Federer in the semi-finals with ease.

"Pah! Andy!"

The All England Club, a place of gentlemanliness and courtesy, finally tore off its tie and threw away its politeness, showing its crazy side of passion for competitive sports.

Pressure was overwhelming Gawain.

Then.

Double fault.

Wow! The whole audience exclaimed in amazement. At the most tense and difficult moment, a double fault occurred, which easily broke the balance.

In Melbourne, New York, and many cities around the world, home crowds go to great lengths to support the host players, even cheering for their opponents' double faults or errors, and occasionally going so far as to make noise interference before the second serve in the hope of causing their opponents to double fault. But at Wimbledon, this is absolutely impossible.

This is a kind of etiquette and also a kind of respect.

Indeed, British audiences all expected Murray to win and end this thrilling duel as soon as possible, but they still respected this sport, this game, and the opponent who faced Murray across the net and worked together to give a wonderful performance.

They expect both players to perform at their best, and they expect Murray to win fairly.

Therefore, the audience did not cheer for this double fault, even though it brought about the match point, they still couldn't help but exclaim.

This is also not what they want to see.

"Oh, Gao Wen made a double fault. It seems that he must have felt a lot of pressure."

In the commentary booth, Tong Kexin made comments in an objective manner.

But this time, Xu Yang had a slightly different opinion.

"During the offseason last year, Gao Wen adjusted his serve, so during the Australian season, the double fault problem was very serious, and it was not completely eliminated until the Australian Open final; but I don't think this double fault was a mistake made because of a slack mentality under pressure."

"In fact, judging from the second serve just now, Gao Wen chose the inner corner of the T point, and the ball was just a little bit out of bounds. This should be a hard serve."

"Throughout the entire match, especially in the third and fourth sets, Murray has been putting pressure on Gawain's serve, whether it's the first serve or the second serve. This has also put obvious pressure on Gawain, and he needs to start the confrontation from the serve link."

"After coming to this game, Murray suddenly increased his speed, and the pressure on Gao Wen's serve increased further. He knew that if the quality of his second serve was not good, he might fall into a passive situation, so Gao Wen chose to fight for a second serve."

"Rather than being affected by physical strength or pressure, it's more like Gao Wen is also playing a game and trying to fight back."

"This is the Gawain we know. He would never surrender without a fight."

"From the result point of view, it was a double fault, but from a tactical point of view, it was also an attempt by Gao Wen to fight back. He was looking for an opportunity to fight back."

Double faults, from any perspective, should not happen; however, there are special times, such as just now.

Gao Wen chose to fight for his serve. If he scored, it would be a second serve ace; if he failed, it would be a double fault. In fact, this is also a kind of attack.

The situation was indeed very unfavorable to Gao Wen, but Xu Yang believed that they could not and should not underestimate Gao Wen.

But--

"15:40".

The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!

Looking at the score, the situation was indeed critical. After facing Istomin in the first round, Gao Wen once again faced the test of match point.

There was a state of shock in the center court.

Obviously, the match point caused by the double fault broke expectations. After taking a breath, they looked at each other in surprise.

And then.

"Come on, Gawain!"

"Hey, Gawain, you can do this."

Sparsely and sporadically, Gao Wen's fans made their voices heard, cheering for their players.

Later.

"Roar, roar, Gawain!"

Shouts, whistles, and applause surged in from every corner, finally converging into a force of energy, swirling above the center court.

Plan was stunned——

The moment before, people were cheering for Murray; but at this moment, the center court was cheering for Gao Wen.

This is the most beautiful and moving moment in competitive sports: it is related to victory or defeat but has nothing to do with victory or defeat, it is not about winners or losers, but a fair fight to the finish. Beyond victory or defeat, there is respect, admiration, fighting spirit, the indomitable spirit and the will to fight to the end, as well as a competitive attitude that challenges oneself and challenges one's limits.

Plop, plop, plop.

The heart pounded against the chest.

Plan never knew that competitive sports had such a side, and that the atmosphere of watching a game live could be so different.

So, Plan also stood up, joined the audience, raised his hands high, and looked at the figure in the center of the court with tears in his eyes.

"Roar, roar, Gawain!"

As she shouted, a smile blossomed among the hot tears, and she couldn't help but feel her blood boiling.

She is ready to fight alongside Gawain, holding her head high and facing the match point together.

(End of this chapter)