At night, bright lights fell from all four corners, evenly and brightly. The Arthur Ashe Stadium was like Atlantis, quietly lurking on the seabed. The air flow also slowed down. The audience held their breath involuntarily, and thousands of eyes gathered into a spotlight.
Bend your knees. Push off the ground. Throw the ball.
Dimitrov's posture is elegant and chic. His fully stretched body mobilizes every inch of muscle. His fluttering hair and dancing jersey outline the trajectory of gushing power, which is released instantly.
Land. Break. Score.
All in one go.
ACE!
"40:40".
Dimitrov saved the second match point in an absolutely clean, strong and calm manner.
Boom! Cheers and screams, applause and whistles, igniting energy, Arthur Ashe Stadium fell into madness, and the rolling heat waves exploded fiercely.
The players' lounge is no exception.
"ah!"
Gawain clenched his fists and raised his hands high, cheering for Dimitrov. He turned around and high-fived the people around him and cheered together.
Then, Gao Wen saw Federer's smiling face.
It was a beat late for Gao Wen to realize that the two of them were standing side by side in front of the TV. Their eyes met and smiles crept into the corners of both of their eyes.
Maybe, on the court, they are rivals, but that doesn't mean it's the same off the court.
Federer took the initiative to talk, "Grigor is in great shape now."
In just a few words, he did not make any judgment or talk about the situation, but Gawain could immediately hear the subtext: Federer believed that the game should not end so soon.
Gao Wen agreed, saying that it was not because Dimitrov saved two match points, but because of the way he saved the match points and the determination Dimitrov showed. The temperament of the whole game had changed a little, and an indomitable attitude burst out from the inside out. This was the key point.
but--
"Novak is also in good shape." Gao Wen responded.
Federer shrugged slightly. "That's why the game is so interesting, right? Even though it seems like we shouldn't be cheering for them now."
This joke successfully made Gao Wen laugh, "But the decision is not in our hands, so we might as well enjoy it."
Federer said:
If the current game continues to be a struggle, it also means that the start time of the next game must be postponed. Rewarming up is one thing, and the delay in the start time may mean that they may need to play late at night and affect their own condition, which is another matter.
From this perspective, the sooner this game ends, the better.
But as Gao Wen said, the decision is not in their hands. To be precise, the decision on the direction of the entire game is not in Djokovic's hands, but in Dimitrov's hands. It depends on Dimitrov's performance next.
Clearly, Federer believes in Dimitrov.
Facts also proved Federer's judgment.
——Game score, “6:6”.
——Sub-score: “5:5”.
After Dimitrov saved two consecutive match points and held his serve, the two players were in a stalemate and entangled all the way, and the victory in the fourth set had to be decided by a tiebreak.
However, the same was true in the tie-break, with both players still performing well on their serve points, and there were no mini breaks in the first ten points.
Until the eleventh point, Dimitrov's serve, Djokovic completed the mini break first with a forehand diagonal winner in a thirty-four-shot round, once again showing the style of the world's number one at the critical moment, further improving his condition to break the balance and bring out the third match point.
Small score: “6:5”.
Djokovic not only avoided the crisis of Dimitrov continuing to hold his serve to lead the set point, but he was about to serve on the next match point.
The air was a little tense, which was slightly different from the situation in the tenth game. Djokovic already had the key to victory.
but!
On the third match point, Dimitrov played very patiently and tenaciously, and fought with Djokovic. However, it was Djokovic's habitual ball-scooping style that prevented him from seizing the opportunity to end the game, leaving Dimitrov with room to fight and breathe.
——Backhand.
——It’s still backhand.
——“Backhand VS Backhand 3.0”.
The two players started a strong duel in the backhand position. In the battle of wits and courage, Djokovic seized the initiative, showing the stability and strength of his world's number one two-handed backhand. He continuously chose to return the ball to suppress Dimitrov and entangled Dimitrov's defensive steps.
Everyone knew that Djokovic's next move would be to attack his forehand, the question was, when? Dimitrov was very passive and his backhand was suppressed. In a difficult situation, he chose to fight with one shot.
It was also a backhand and a diagonal shot, but the advantage of the one-handed backhand was fully utilized. Dimitrov directly tore the angle apart and made full use of the court with a shallower landing point, immediately moving Djokovic outside the singles line.
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Huh! The whole audience exclaimed.
Almost everyone thought that Djokovic was finally going to change direction, and Dimitrov's steps also moved towards the forehand position.
But I didn't expect it.
Djokovic threw his body out directly and chose the diagonal line again, further tearing the angle apart, which put Dimitrov into a passive position again.
——“Backhand VS Backhand 4.0”.
Dimitrov was in a very awkward position. He went back and forth, lost his balance, and his backhand was strongly squeezed. He forced out a small diagonal backhand with one hand, and the ball flew along the diagonal and landed in the serving area, creating the effect of an outside corner serve.
Moreover, it has both speed and power, with a strong backspin.
A head-on collision.
Djokovic's footsteps were simply pulled outside the doubles line, and although he touched the ball with a two-handed backhand, the return went into the net.
Boom! Boom boom boom! Arthur Ashe Stadium went crazy. Completely crazy.
This includes the players' lounge.
Gawain raised his arms and shouted, looking at Federer with joy and excitement: In just this round, Dimitrov really showed Federer's style.
After going through ups and downs, "Little Federer" finally showed his tennis king temperament at the crucial moment of the semi-final stage of the Grand Slam tournament.
And, this is still not the end.
"8:10".
Immediately afterwards, Dimitrov saved the fourth match point on his own serve and seized his second set point, dragging the game into the deciding set before the third exchange of venues in the tiebreak, and won the fourth set tiebreak in a thrilling way.
The players' lounge was in an uproar, and the atmosphere was no less exciting than that of the live audience.
Federer and Gawain exchanged glances, and both of them smiled.
Sure enough, their prediction was correct, which also meant that they needed to warm up again and have to wait for their turn to appear on the court.
This scene is probably something no one had expected. The legend of Super Friday continues, and the night is getting brighter and brighter.