Chapter 2014: Giant Energy
Countless eyes gathered towards the London O2 Arena, looking forward to a grand event. In fact, the O2 Arena did present a good show, but... the wonderful moments were slightly different from the expected scenes.
First Federer, then Nadal, they made their voices heard.
After the two giants experienced a disappointing, bumpy and difficult long season, all the focus and topics were gathered on the year-end world No. 1 battle between Djokovic and Galvin, but Federer and Nadal are still fighting, quietly returning to the top in their own way.
Federer won two games and advanced to the next round.
Nadal has won two games in a row. Although it is impossible to predict the outcome of Gawain's match with Murray as it has not started yet, the initiative to qualify is in his own hands.
Wow! Admire, exclaim, marvel——
No one is exempt from this.
In fact, this is not easy.
Judging from the score alone, Nadal and Wawrinka won the match completely, "6:3", "6:2". Nadal swept his opponent by losing only five games for the second consecutive game, and he defeated two Grand Slam champions in a row.
But in fact, the game was very tense, and Wawrinka showed his fighting spirit, fighting from the first point to the last point.
In the end, the entire match lasted 87 minutes, which was the second longest match so far, second only to the match between Berdych and Ferrer. Wawrinka did not give up the victory. Nadal still widened the gap with his performance in key points, announcing the return of the God of War.
Following his full recovery against Murray in the first round, Nadal’s performance in the key points of the second round also improved to a higher level, and his competitiveness reached a new level.
Applause, thunderous——
This is the giant.
They will encounter difficulties, injuries, fluctuations in form, tough challenges and so on. They are also mortals and everyone has their own difficulties and problems; but they can always draw energy from these difficulties, continue to progress, continue to improve, continue to transform, and become better players.
Their dominance is not only reflected on the court, but also in much more.
Murray, too.
Maybe, it was because he was stimulated by the outstanding performances of Federer and Nadal; maybe, it was because Murray was very dissatisfied with his poor performance; maybe, it was because Murray was also adjusting, trying and breaking through... But no matter what, Murray also showed his giant style.
Facing Gawain——
At the opening stage, Murray showed a brand new attitude.
Speed up! In this year's Asian season and European indoor hard court season, Murray suffered two consecutive defeats against Gao Wen, and compared with the defeat in Wimbledon, these two losses were one-sided and crushing.
This also led the media to raise a question: Is it because of the psychological trauma caused by the defeat at Wimbledon that Murray is so restrained?
Murray denied this. He believed that Gawain's growth and transformation were amazing. He obviously underestimated Gawain's changes in the past few months. There were problems with his game strategy and he needed to re-examine these failures.
Change is imperative.
This is one aspect, and the other aspect is because of Murray's own condition.
Murray also realized that there were problems with his game, not just when facing Gawain, but also when facing other players even if he won.
In the past, long rounds of multi-shot tug-of-war were his favorite comfort zone, because he could gain more room for thinking, slowly plan and maneuver, control the situation and create opportunities; but now, the more room for thinking, the easier it is to fall into the rut of endless encounters and lose control.
Essentially, it is a lack of confidence in oneself.
But the problem is that "confidence" is not that simple. It is not like a fuel tank. If it consumes too much fuel, you can add some more. If one fuel doesn't work, you can switch to another. Restoring, building and rebuilding confidence requires a process and also needs to be shaped through different competitions and different victories.
At least, not in the short term.
Murray believes that the only feasible solution at the moment is to break out of his comfort zone.
then--
Murray chose to speed up.
This is a very one-dimensional approach. Since leaving room for thinking may cause more hesitation and delay, it is better to simply compress the thinking space.
Murray is not an aggressive and powerful offensive player, but his control and adjustment of rhythm are undoubtedly among the top ATP players, which is why he has repeatedly achieved good results on grass courts; now, Murray is changing the game by improving his rhythm.
Positioning is a change.
Murray moves his habitual stance slightly forward by half a step, occasionally one step, to be more aggressive and attacking; at the same time, the entire stroke connection is tighter. Although he does not frequently grab rising points like Kei Nishikori, the connection between shots does advance the timing of the shot.
Simply put, Murray played on the indoor hard court of the O2 Arena as if it were the grass court of the All England Club.
But is that all?
Of course not.
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If that were all, Murray would just be repeating the Wimbledon showdown; as he himself said, Gawain has grown and transformed after Wimbledon, and he can no longer look at Gawain with the same eyes, otherwise he would just be repeating the same mistakes and it would not be considered a change at all.
Murray's shots were more decisive and bolder. The whole layout focused more on the game and calculation of the first three shots, and his aggressiveness was obviously improved.
This is the second change.
Then, the effect becomes apparent.
No time to think, which means no room for hesitation and hesitation. In many cases, people often react instinctively. In a critical situation, there is no game, no layout, no calculation. They rely entirely on intuition and conditioned reflexes to complete the shot. This tests the tennis foundation.
On the contrary, it can improve the quality of the return ball.
This kind of Murray is unfamiliar; at the same time, he is focused and dedicated. The excellent performances of Federer and Nadal are the best motivation.
In the opening stage, Murray played vigorously amid the cheers and support of the home fans. His determination could be seen in the murderous look and courage in his eyes.
With Djokovic and Galvin competing for the year-end world No. 1, and Federer and Nadal both recovering, Murray has also made his voice heard. Regardless of whether people agree or not, or how they evaluate him, there is no doubt that he has remained at the top for many years.
No one should underestimate him, he is a dangerous opponent at any time.
In this game, Murray served first.
The two players held their serve and exerted pressure all the way, and maintained the balance in the back and forth collision and competition.
“3:2”.
Then, entering the middle stage, in the sixth game, Murray seized two opportunities when Gao Wen missed the serve and launched a quick attack, and achieved excellent results.
Break point, it appeared! Surprise, absolutely surprise.
No one expected that it would be Murray who first forced a break point. Just when people thought Murray had withdrawn from the competition for the year-end finals, the Scotsman at home still found his own energy.
(End of this chapter)