Chapter 1688 Grass Talent
Federer, a tennis king of his generation, has set numerous records, but when people mention him, the first thing that comes to mind is still the lush green court of Wimbledon and his elegant figure in white clothes. There is no doubt that he was born for grass and created a legend here.
However, 2012 seems to be Federer's "last glory" -
That year, Djokovic won the Australian Open, Nadal won the French Open, Federer won the Wimbledon, and Murray won the US Open. The four Grand Slams belonged to four players respectively. At the same time, it also laid the foundation for the era of the Big Four, making it the most brilliant, magical and important year of the ATP golden age.
Also that year, Wimbledon became Federer's last Grand Slam title. After that, he fell into a period of ups and downs. The influence of injuries and the decline in physical fitness after he was over 30, the king of tennis inevitably entered a difficult gray period.
Among them, in 2013, he went to the All England Club as the defending champion, but lost to Stakhovsky in the second round, ending his record of reaching the Grand Slam quarterfinals for 36 consecutive times. It caused shock around the world, and people can still recall the uproar after that upset.
To be precise, being eliminated in the second round at the All England Club, in the fourth round at Flushing Meadows in the same year, and in the third round at Melbourne Park earlier this year were all the worst performances in his career, but these are not the point; the point is that Federer's peak state seems to be gone forever.
Even when he won the championship, even when he advanced to the semi-finals or even the finals of a Grand Slam, Federer's competitiveness and dominance were clearly shaken.
The king of tennis is still the king of tennis, but his "peak is no longer there". The main theme of the men's professional tennis confrontation has slowly shifted from "Federer VS Nadal" to "Djokovic VS Nadal". This change is cruel but real, until this year, until this year's Wimbledon.
On the court he is best at, in his own backyard, Federer regained his vitality, from serving to attacking to movement.
"Reappearing the peak", even if it is not the same as the peak period, it is infinitely close to the peak, which also made all the professionals exclaim:
The opportunity has come.
Perhaps, the time has come for Federer to break his three-year Grand Slam title drought; perhaps, the time has come for Federer to win his 18th Grand Slam.
Even Federer himself is full of confidence. After defeating Simon, the Swiss king said that he was "very close" to his peak state.
Federer in his prime was truly an unattainable peak at Wimbledon, someone that every player had to look up to.
but!
"7:6 (6)", when facing Gawain, he lost the first set; and he lost the victory by losing two consecutive serve points when he had two consecutive set points. Such embarrassment gave Federer a wake-up call, and then the giant beast woke up.
From the second set, Federer showed his understanding of grass to the fullest, including bounce, rotation, rhythm, friction and so on. His overall control and coverage were elevated to a higher level, as was his concentration and commitment, and he directly entered Super Saiyan mode.
Federer seized the brief period of chaotic rhythm of Gawain and took control of the match in one go.
Although the chaotic situation did not last long, Gawain quickly recovered and found his rhythm, but Federer was fully focused and gave Gawain a good lesson in "Grass Court 101", which instantly reminded Gawain of the feeling of facing Nadal for the first time on clay.
No wonder Sampras said that the "Channel Slam" is actually dead in name only. Although they still need to switch venues, the players are no longer the same.
In the past, players would conduct different training according to different venues and change their technical and tactical combinations to adapt to the style of the venue. Now, players still do adjustment training, but the game style has basically remained unchanged, including Gao Wen.
At Wimbledon, Gawain has used tactics on both hard and clay courts many times, which is possible thanks to advances in shoe and racket technology.
The same is true for Djokovic and Murray. From Melbourne Park to Roland Garros to Wimbledon, their tactics and styles are basically the same.
What is truly special is Nadal on clay and Federer on grass. No wonder those legendary players have a special preference for these two players.
Today, Federer gave Gao Wen a good show, not in training, but in a formal competition, and also in the semi-finals of Wimbledon.
Even though Gao Wen is already ranked second in the world, he still needs to be humble and ask for advice when standing in front of Federer on the grass court.
Whether it is the choice of hitting method at the baseline, the choice of time to go to the net, or the choice of handling techniques in front of the net, Gao Wen still has a lot to learn.
Although he had understood everything Sampras said during daily training, he still needed actual practice to apply it in the game. Now looking at Federer, Gao Wen finally understood why Sampras always liked to use Federer as an example.
Not only is it textbook-like, but the brilliant shot selection and amazing touch control bring out the charm of grass tennis to the fullest.
——“1:0”.
Federer, broken serve.
Although Gawain saved five break points, he still couldn't keep up with Federer's rhythm on the sixth break point. His forehand went into the net and he lost his serve. This was also the first break between the two players in the match. Federer's fans went crazy.
Gao Wen felt a little regretful. In the last shot of returning the ball, his knees were not completely bent and his center of gravity was not lowered enough, which caused the return ball to go into the net.
Details, the more critical the moment, the more these details determine the outcome. These details are precisely what the audience cannot see but are crucial to the players.
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In the last game, when playing against Murray, Gao Wen had already felt it; and in this game, this feeling was further deepened.
When facing giants, it is often these subtle details, especially the key points, that determine victory or defeat.
This break directly determined the outcome of the second set.
"6:4".
Federer's serve was still as solid as a rock. After winning the last serve game in four straight points, he secured the second set.
The score is tied, “1:1”.
Live up to expectations!
The back-and-forth semi-final match fully met and even exceeded expectations. In the first two sets of the fierce battle, the atmosphere on the Centre Court and Murray Hill reached a new climax, and both Gawain and Federer gave their best performances so far.
It takes a process for truly top players to prepare for a Grand Slam, just like a football team prepares for the World Cup. They need to slowly adjust and improve their condition, avoid being eliminated unexpectedly in the first half, maintain their energy to wait for subsequent tough battles, and reach their competitive peak in the semifinals and finals.
This is what happened to Federer and Gawain right now, and the tit-for-tat confrontation continued into the third set.
(End of this chapter)