The sun was scorching, the breeze was gentle, the golden sunlight of California penetrated the cloudless blue sky, and the stadium, filled with rolling heat waves, seemed like it could melt at any time. Even if you just stood outside for a moment, you would sweat profusely, breathe rapidly, and almost be unable to open your eyes.
In weather like this, you should stay in an air-conditioned room, eat watermelon and drink cocktails, or sit by the pool and lie lazily for an afternoon.
However, on the UCLA tennis training court, there was a figure running wildly.
Snap! That was the sound of the ball hitting the ground.
Ah! That’s the sound of joining forces.
Back and forth, hitting the ball with all his strength, the harsh sound caused by the friction between the soles of his shoes and the ground was quickly covered up by the sound of hot breathing, and bean-sized beads of sweat flew and exploded proudly with the pull of centrifugal force.
Focus on your work.
Meticulous.
Go all out.
The spectator stands next to the training ground were packed with people. Everyone was so focused on the bustling sounds that they couldn't help but hold their breath for fear of missing any details, and their hearts were beating wildly uncontrollably.
That’s not all.
Outside the barbed wire surrounding the training ground, there were countless figures bustling about. There were three layers of spectators standing in an orderly manner on the sidelines, staring at the scene in front of them with sweat all over their bodies under the scorching sun.
The whole place was in complete silence. The rough and hot breathing sounds were completely lost in the raging heat waves.
It is incredible that this is just a daily training match, but it still attracts so many spectators, even more lively than the official NCAA competition.
After all, there is only one Gawain.
The person training in front of him was Gao Wen, who had just defended the US Open title in New York four days ago, and his training opponent across the net was Thiem.
Compared with last year's US Open and this year's Australian Open, everything has become familiar. From Tobias to Gao Hongli and Jiang Yanyun to Gao Wen himself, they have slowly found a clever balance.
In fact, this year's business invitations are still numerous, and can be said to be countless. Everyone sees Gao Wen's commercial value.
Not to mention much else, Nike generated 600 million views just by relying on the “Non-stop Fighting” video, and within just three days, Gawain’s US Open championship jersey sold 15 million U.S. dollars in sales.
Three days!
Gasp! Even Nike himself was shocked.
No one wants to miss Gawain, and no one should miss Gawain.
Advertising sponsorship invitations came in like a flood. It is no exaggeration to say that Tobias was so busy that he couldn't stop. At the same time, invitations from different events, social occasions and magazines were like a summer rainstorm.
Although Forbes has not yet calculated the current market value of Gawain, according to media estimates, Gawain is very likely to surpass Federer to become the top player in today's tennis world and usher in a new era.
Since 2003, Federer has become a banner of tennis. His brand image and market appeal have completely entered the next level. In the field of tennis, only Serena Williams, Nadal and Maria Sharapova can barely be in the same league, but not enough to be compared with him.
And now, Gawain?
But if you think about it carefully, the Chinese market and the Asian market standing behind Gao Wen, as well as sponsors from Europe and North America, have been longing for such a perfect entry point, and no one wants to miss it, so it doesn't seem so surprising.
However, Tobias digested and handled all this noise perfectly, focusing on quality rather than quantity, and had an excellent grasp of priorities, which did not disrupt Gawain's season schedule at all.
——No. 1 in the world.
No matter what the result is, no matter what the odds are, they will always give it a try. Even Nike postponed the arrangement of the advertising shoot until after the Shanghai Masters, making way for Gawain's training and competition. Naturally, Tobias could arrange it easily and smoothly.
After the US Open ended, Gawain stayed in New York for two days, accepting interviews, attending events, shooting magazines, etc. He spun like a top within 48 hours, and even made an appearance at the New York Fashion Week, but that was all. Just like Cinderella's magic, at midnight, he returned to his most primitive and simple state.
Afterwards, Gao Wen returned to Los Angeles and rested for about a day and a half. Apart from simple basic training, he just rested and had some free time. Then -
train.
Today Gao Wen picked up the racket again, rested in the morning, and started training in the afternoon.
The fight for world No. 1 is one thing, but not having the season over is another.
This weekend, Gao Wen will once again compete for the country in the Davis Cup. They will participate in the World Group play-offs. Once they can defeat their opponents, China will advance to the World Group for the first time in history and join the competition for the Davis Cup championship next year.
Attention, expectation, pressure...
He needs training.
Everything happened like a storm in just three and a half days, as if it was sped up ten times. It was over before we had time to catch our breath. The US Open final seemed very, very far away.
but!
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When my feet stepped onto the training ground again, the chaos and confusion slowly subsided, and I found the familiar rhythm again, and there was a sense of calm and tranquility.
Gao Wen still likes such moments, everything becomes simple, everything is about tennis and only about tennis.
From basic warm-up to simple hitting to training games, I followed the steps and woke up my body little by little. Even though it was only three days of rest, my body started to itch.
Some habits have been quietly integrated into the body.
It is worth mentioning that the entire North American summer hard court season came to an end after many ups and downs, and the system actually gained a lot.
Physical attributes were incredibly naturally improved a little, from 93 to 94.
Technical attributes have not changed and remain 95.
The spiritual attribute has incredibly increased a little bit and now has reached 98.
In addition, the growth potential value also saw a breakthrough. I originally thought that the bottleneck would be more obvious when returning to hard court from clay and grass; but I didn’t expect that after experiencing injuries, accidents, pressure, etc., and finally facing a series of ultimate challenges, the growth potential value continued to rise.
This time, Gao Wen did not hesitate and added all eight attribute points to the hidden attribute - it was more or less a catharsis-style point addition, but from another perspective, as his career progressed and the season deepened, the importance of hidden attributes gradually became more prominent.
then--
Hidden attributes: 82 (3/5).
Although the speed is not fast, Gao Wen is still growing slowly step by step after experiencing different challenges and tests in different venues.
That's a good thing.
So, what's the reason not to train?
Even if it's slow, it adds up. If he wants to really gain a foothold in the top ranks and compete head-to-head with other giants, he needs to stay focused.
He longs for training as much as he longs for growth and breakthroughs.