Chapter 1643: All about strength
Second shot is a direct hit——
"boom!"
The entire center court exploded. The sea of spectators all stood up and cheered, their eyes full of disbelief, their hearts bursting.
"Wow!"
In the commentary booth, Tong Kexin couldn't help but exclaim, trying to find some words to express his feelings, but in the end it turned into another sigh.
"Wow!"
"The second serve directly scored, and Gao Wen escaped."
On the court, Murray expressed his regret with all his frustration. His knees went weak and he staggered two steps, muttering to himself. He was obviously very dissatisfied with the second serve that went into the net. In a duel between top players, there are not many such opportunities, and if missed, they might be gone.
But Xu Yang had a different opinion.
"In fact, this second shot has the same effect as what Gawain wanted to achieve with his last second shot. Even though it is a second shot, it is a trap."
"He made a double fault in the previous point, which led to a match point. But Gao Wen did not show any mercy and continued to implement his strategy. This time, his second serve was successful."
"Gawain also realized that Murray was always trying to steal the serve, so he made some adjustments and showed his champion qualities again with his courage at the critical moment."
The whole audience was boiling.
This match lived up to the audience's expectations from the first game, and reached a new climax at the end of the fourth set. Who could not like such a duel?
Perhaps, the two players' respective fans?
The voices calling for Murray and calling for Gawain were intertwined. The fans of both players were in extreme torment and tension at this moment. Whether they were leading or lagging behind, the unresolved game made their hearts curl up tightly. They dared not breathe and forgot to breathe.
"30:40".
There was a little noise in the center court. The audience found it difficult to calm down. After a long while of hustle and bustle, the situation finally calmed down a bit under the control of the referee. The two players on the court were concentrating and were ready to continue the confrontation.
District 2.
It's still match point.
This time, Gawain chose the inner corner.
It is not the classic routine of suppressing the backhand from the outside corner of the second zone, but aiming at the inside corner of Murray's forehand.
This is the third meeting between Gawain and Murray, and Gawain has a better understanding of Murray's weak forehand.
In fact, Murray's forehand also has the ability to whip and hammer with force, which is very lethal. This is also the basis for him to compete with other giants. The so-called shortcomings are only relative, and the problem still exists objectively: First, Murray's forehand hitting point is far back, mainly open-style hitting, and he rarely steps forward to grab the rising point and hits a high-speed flat offensive ball.
Secondly, Murray himself is relatively conservative in character. He tends to rely on layout to establish sufficient advantages and then cash in on winning points, rather than frequently changing lines or aiming at blind spots to pursue the limit. Naturally, forehand returns are often mainly diagonal, which is easy to predict, and the difficulty of tearing through the opponent's defense increases.
In the ATP tour, Murray's forehand is stronger than 95% of the players, and he is not at a disadvantage even when competing against players with violent forehands like Del Potro; but when competing against top-level players, the lack of firepower in his forehand often causes him to get into multi-shot fights, and he may become a breakthrough point in the confrontation.
Especially the key points.
Just like now.
Gawain knew that Murray could complete the shot with his forehand, but when facing high-speed flat serves, Murray's forehand shots were more wrap-around, not as varied and offensive as his backhand shots. This also meant that Gawain's tactical layout had more room for maneuver.
One shot, 123 mph (198 km/h)—
Smooth entry into the zone!
After missing three consecutive first serves, facing the second match point, Gao Wen finally got his long-lost first serve.
really!
On the second match point, Murray slowly returned to his familiar mode, without that crazy energy, taking a step sideways, blocking and pushing with his forehand.
There was no quick attack or risk, but instead a cutting push, relying on the wrapping of the wrist to push the tennis ball as deep as possible to the baseline.
Squeeze! But insurance.
This is Murray's serve return strategy, but this routine was accurately predicted in Gao Wen's layout.
Taking small steps continuously, Gao Wen created some space near the serving position, pulled the forehand racket back a little, delayed the shot by half a beat, and waited for the tennis ball to rise to a certain height after bouncing. He did not need to exert any strength himself, but relied on the weight of his body to hit the ball with his wrist flicked outward.
Backslash skate shot.
Looks light, but actually high-end.
Gawain's return went straight to Murray's backhand, not heavy but fast, like lightning.
Murray's defensive prediction was very accurate and he started immediately, but he immediately realized that Gawain did not exert enough force and the tennis ball bounced very low after landing, not leaving him much room for counterattack. So, Murray simply went with the flow and cut the ball with his backhand.
There is a mystery hidden in cutting.
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Fast and spinning, deep and heavy.
At this time, Murray's understanding of grass can be seen again. He used backspin to cut, but did not pull up the arc. Instead, he flew low over the net, ensuring that the tennis ball entered the deep baseline area on Gao Wen's side and ensured that the bounce was still not high. Finally, he used depth and rotation to create an impact.
Cutting can be fast or slow. Some cutting is as slow as a hydrogen balloon rising into the sky, while some cutting is as light and fast as a falling meteor.
Murray's cutting belongs to the latter.
In just one round, the two players had already clashed once on offense and defense.
Gao Wen's footsteps clearly felt the squeezing, and he had no time to step back and make room, which also meant that there was not enough space for attack.
Judging from Murray's position, he is still waiting at the diagonal backhand position, because he knows that Gawain's offensive space is limited. If he chooses to attack in a straight line forcibly, it will either go into the net or out of bounds, which are both high-probability events. In other words, if Gawain wants to ensure the continuity of the attack, the diagonal line is a high-probability event.
So, Murray just needs to wait where he is.
If it was Djokovic, he would just hit the ball back diagonally with both hands, and then the two good friends would have a long tug of war at the baseline.
But Gawain wasn't prepared for that.
He glanced at Murray's position, bent his knees, lowered his center of gravity, and hit a heavy backhand sideways shot.
"Cutting VS Cutting".
Tennis is not just about speed and power; in addition to driving the ball, different hitting methods can also bring different offensive effects.
Passive cutting is defensive; active cutting can play an offensive role, especially on grass.
Here, Gawain did continue to attack, but he did not choose the conventional tactics.
On the other side, Murray paused, his alarm bells rang, and the moment he noticed Gawain changed his batting technique, he immediately pushed off the ground and jumped to the right.
Tap tap tap.
Tap, tap, tap! Sprinting across the court, Murray stared at the tennis ball. At this moment, the game and counterattack were completely tense. Everything was hard power, no fancy or skills. The brains of both players were running at high speed, and the collision of strategy and execution was burning in the air.
——In a straight line and shallow area, Gao Wen’s cutting shot changed the situation on the court again.
(End of this chapter)