"A typical backhand straight line, a typical desperate counterattack, a typical desperate burst, a typical Gawain."
"In these two match points, Gao Wen was completely excited. The quality of the game reached a new height. It was wonderful. It was really wonderful."
"There were three match points in a row, and in the blink of an eye, there was only one left. The situation changed quietly."
"Although the initiative is still in Djokovic's hands, the momentum of the confrontation between the two players is changing."
"The next point is the most dangerous and difficult for both players. Now it depends on how they choose to deal with it."
Snap. Snap. Snap.
Djokovic was bouncing the ball, and the entire bouncing time was noticeably prolonged. The rolling heat in the air of the Arthur Ashe Stadium continued to heat up, even penetrating the live camera screen and spreading. Audiences in different time zones and corners of the world seemed to be able to feel the madness of midsummer.
Seventeen.
After seventeen strokes, Djokovic finally adjusted his breathing and started to throw the ball, but he didn't expect -
"Out of bounds."
One shot, outside corner, went wide.
The whole audience exclaimed.
Because Djokovic couldn't serve, and because Djokovic was about to start bouncing the ball again.
Fortunately, the second serve tempo increased significantly, and after just eight shots, Djokovic dropped the ball.
Inner angle.
In the second zone, the attempt to sneak attack from the outside corner was unsuccessful, so the second serve was pulled back to the inside corner. This was because Djokovic knew that Gao Wen's current physical condition could not be compared with the previous two sets. Even after enduring the physical peak, he still had not fully recovered, so it was difficult for Gao Wen to directly attack with his forehand.
In fact, Djokovic is correct.
Gao Wen also knew that if his knees were not strong enough to push off the ground, he would have to rely entirely on upper limb strength to attack, and his error rate would be very high. If the score was tied or he was leading, he could make a surprise attack, but now it was match point, and taking a risk would not be a fight but suicide, so he naturally would not choose this.
Push off the ground, start, and block with your forehand.
Djokovic's inside corner serve landed very beautifully, and although it did not hit the T-spot, it was close, which completely mobilized Gawain. He barely hit the tennis ball back with his forehand, but the depth and arc control were lacking, which gave Djokovic the opportunity to connect his offense.
Oops!
Gao Wen did not pause. As soon as he received the serve with his front foot, he took a big step with his back foot in the direction of movement, moving towards the forehand gap on the right.
Run, run at full speed, run in a panic.
At the same time, keep your eyes completely fixed on Djokovic and observe closely, and then you can see Djokovic cutting to the baseline to prepare for the rising point.
He took a step forward, entered the baseline, stretched out his forehand, aimed at Gao Wen's return ball to the middle and slightly forehand, and prepared for a full-scale sweep.
Forehand diagonal shot, "inside-out", is Djokovic's strongest and most outstanding scoring method on the fast hard court of the US Open. Without a doubt, he is in complete control of the initiative and is the one who actively attacks. It has penetrating power and a sense of pressure. He is undoubtedly a winning point harvester.
Generally speaking, players tend to ignore this shot, because the forehand diagonal shot is the most basic shot. They are so accustomed to it that they believe that their subconscious defense has become a habit and do not need to make special preparations or be particularly vigilant, but they often guess Djokovic's trap.
But Gawain wouldn't.
Every time he meets Djokovic, he stays alert and focused, and will never ignore the killer shot in the tug-of-war.
The same is true at this time.
Therefore, Gao Wen immediately started to defend his forehand, and ran faster and faster, preparing for the penetrating impact.
result!
Djokovic seemed to realize this. The diagonal line was still a diagonal line, but it was not the iconic "inside-out" flat shot, but a loop shot.
It's the ball again.
He had a clear opportunity to attack but chose to dunk the ball, but that's Djokovic.
A forehand shot with a full arc and deep landing point -
Huh! Amid the exclamations of the audience, he crossed the line.
In the previous point, Djokovic's forehand shot seemed to be out of bounds; in this point, it happened again.
From this one detail, we can see the fierce confrontation between the two players. Djokovic has been improving the quality of his shots and the threat of his return balls. He aims at the corners every time he hits the ball, and makes dangerous attempts near the sidelines. At the same time, he keeps switching his techniques to disrupt Gawain's rhythm.
Nervous! Exciting! Thrilling! But... still within the boundaries.
The linesman's gesture was very firm, and the referee also made an in-bounds gesture.
Almost immediately, Gawain realized the crisis. His movement was aimed at the diagonal flat shot, but Djokovic's landing point, line and angle were obviously pulled back a bit, which meant that Gawain might run too far, squeeze himself and directly hit the return ball line.
A similar tactic was used by Gawain in the first set with excellent results, and now Djokovic also used it on match point.
Oops!
The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!
If you brake suddenly, you may not be able to control your center of gravity and miss the hitting point; if you slow down, your steps may become disordered and your hitting action may lose balance.
But now, there was no time to hesitate. In a flash, Gawain stretched out his right hand and made a very awkward cut.
Unconventional shots, looking like an amateur player who has never learned tennis, the way he holds the racket and the way he hits the ball are completely based on instinct.
But!
Gao Wen successfully completed the shot, not only controlling the parabola of the return ball so that it did not rise completely, but also adjusting his footwork so that he could catch his breath and regain his rhythm. In a hurry, he had already grasped his center of gravity, adjusted himself with a series of small steps, and was ready to defend the next shot.
Everything happened in a flash.
This was Gawain’s response, however, Djokovic seemed to have anticipated this as well.
It’s not the way Gawain returns the ball, but his ability to adapt to difficult situations.
Djokovic knew that Gawain would not give up easily and would use his imagination when inspiration struck, so his footwork was also very fast.
Following the footsteps of cutting into the baseline, he went straight to the net neatly.
This time, he did not hesitate.
Tap, tap, tap, tap. Djokovic's footsteps entered the serving area in the blink of an eye, and he saw Gawain's slice return going over the net.
So, Djokovic didn't even wait for the tennis ball to land, and even continued to move forward, volleying it in the air and chopping it with his forehand to block the tennis ball back.
Just like the block in volleyball.
Ping! Pong! The tennis ball returned to its original path, and went diagonally back to Gao Wen's forehand position, forcing Gao Wen to return to his backhand position to defend.
The pace is getting faster and faster, with no time to breathe.
A second ago, Gao Wen had just regained his center of gravity, but before he could stand firmly, he had to move again, and then his center of gravity swayed and drifted again.
Tennis, here it comes.
It was light, soft, flat and low, which meant that there was not enough bounce and no way to leverage the ball. Such a ball required Gao Wen to actively exert force, but the tennis ball fell into the blind spot of the big triangle at the baseline, and when it bounced off the ground, it went directly into Gao Wen's chest, leaving no space for hitting the ball.
what to do?