Chapter 2015 Dilemma
“30:40”.
The break point appeared. In Gao Wen's serve game, the O2 Stadium was very lively and the home audience was unable to suppress their excitement after all.
However, Gawain was not panicked.
This is a kind of confidence, the confidence accumulated from consecutive victories.
Moreover, Gawain has gradually adapted to this "new version" of Murray. The reason for putting it in quotation marks is that Murray has only changed his strategy at the tactical level, but still cannot change his essence.
In essence, Murray is not the type of player who can end the game cleanly through one or two violent attacks. Neither his forehand nor his backhand has such ability; even if he increases his rhythm, he cannot improve the quality of his ball.
Of course, Gao Wen understands Murray's attempt. Just like himself in the Asian season last year, he always needs to try in difficult situations. Don't be afraid of making mistakes and find answers through different trials and errors. This is the correct scientific research spirit and also the correct way to explore and understand oneself.
But for Gao Wen, he was also adjusting, trying to disrupt Murray's rhythm and force Murray to make mistakes in areas he was not used to. Today, Murray's unforced errors were definitely more than usual.
The emergence of the break point was a result of Murray's outstanding performance and also a period of trial and error for Gao Wen. Gao Wen was not surprised by this and naturally was not panicked.
So, how should you play the break point ?
Close range pressure backhand.
This was a flat shot, with a speed of 190 kilometers per hour, and the landing point was very precise, just enough to limit Murray's backhand swing space.
Murray, very awkward.
Normally, he would stand about two to two and a half meters from the baseline; today, he took a half step forward, within two meters, to increase the sense of pressure.
Naturally, the space for swinging the racket is compressed.
In this situation, facing serves from the corners at both ends, you can gain some advantages; but facing close-range and chasing serves, you will be squeezed.
There are pros and cons.
This is only Gawain's third serving game since the start of the match. Gawain is still exploring, adjusting and testing, and is not in a hurry to focus on close-range serves, so Murray's serve receiving strategy has been performing well.
but!
Sudden?
Although Murray also anticipated that Gao Wen would make adjustments on the break point; such a high-quality first serve still limited Murray's adjustments.
One look up, one push up.
Murray leaned back with his upper body and held the racket in his hands and hit the ball in a small area, showing his ability as one of the best serve receivers today. He relied solely on the strength of his forearm and wrist to hit a small diagonal ball, which fell near the sideline on the backhand side of Gao Wen, tearing the angle.
Strength, general.
Speed, average.
The spin and line, were outstanding.
In one move, Gao Wen's feet were pulled out of the singles line. This was also the key to Murray's ability to force a break point in this game, a high-quality return of serve.
Gao Wen was a little surprised, but he remained calm in the face of danger.
Step! With a big step, Gao Wen's body was pulled out of the singles line and continued to rush forward. He led the racket early with a two-handed backhand, but paused before he was about to shoot, shook Murray, and then pulled up a strong topspin.
Slash.
Topspin.
This is unreasonable.
Gawain used a fake move to shake Murray's center of gravity, and then he should have matched it with a flat shot, especially a straight or diagonal "inside-out" shot to aim for a winning point; but Gawain chose to return the ball with a strong topspin, which actually gave Murray some breathing time to adjust. What kind of self-destructive tactic is this?
Murray was equally confused.
Shaking, starting, conditioned reflex, the body's center of gravity has switched three times in just a moment, but by concentrating and completely trusting his body's reactions, he was able to keep up with the rhythm smoothly.
With just a misalignment, Murray moved back to the backhand position.
But the result is that——
Chance.
I was not in a mess, but instead had room to adjust. The strong topspin on the shot left me with enough room to move and swing the racket, which was definitely an unexpected surprise.
Murray was not happy, because he knew Gawain well. Gawain would not make such a mistake. This was a trap set up, a pit waiting for the opponent to jump into it. But how should he respond? Should he simply push back? Or should he set a trap and fight back?
Thoughts are surging in my mind.
It's hard to believe that in just a short moment, so many thoughts came into my mind, one after another, swarming in and occupying my brain.
No, he needs to trust his intuition, he needs to increase his speed and compress the rhythm.
So Murray immediately took the lead and moved forward, trying to seize the rising point.
However, tennis has not arrived yet.
To the naked eye, there is no difference at all, and there is no time difference at all; but standing on the court, Murray seemed to have been waiting for a century.
He tried his best not to let his mind wander and to focus on speeding up, but he still waited too long before swinging the racket. He was a little impatient and got the rising point, even a little too early, but the angle of the racket did not change accordingly. He just raised his hand and swung -
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Ugh. Ahhh. Aaaaah!
Murray is still trying hard, hoping to end the round in this shot. He needs a winning point.
But the only response he got was the dull sound of the tennis ball hitting the net.
Crash.
A sea of white waves.
"Ah... Murray was a little too aggressive, hitting the ball too early and it went straight into the net. Murray was unable to pull up the parabola of the return ball."
"It was an unforced error and Murray easily gave the point to Gawain. It was a break point and could have been worth a fortune for Murray."
"It was a slightly sloppy mistake."
Even the commentator was unable to see the change in rhythm control between Gawain and Murray. Murray was rushing while Gawain was dragging the ball. The misalignment of hitting the ball a little earlier or later quietly changed the game.
In the commentator's opinion, Murray was too impatient when he saw the opportunity; but in fact, this was Gawain's strategy. The only surprise was that he did not expect Murray's shot to go into the net on the first try; it was too fast.
Sure enough, Murray is still not very stable now, and there are different deviations in his overall control of himself. Whether breaking the routine or returning to the routine, Murray's shot selection has some problems.
This is Gao Wen's chance.
Facing the crisis of break point, Gao Wen keenly grasped the key of the game, which was an extra gain and worth a thousand gold.
Gawain did not celebrate wildly, after all, it was his opponent's mistake, and he did not even clench his fist; but he kept watching Murray's subsequent reaction.
The tense atmosphere of the game quietly changed.
Opposite the stadium.
Murray, looking up at the sky——
It was a trap. He knew it was a trap, but he still foolishly stepped into it. It is not good to think too much, and it is also not good to think too little.
Murray was a little annoyed. He looked at his player box again, muttering and complaining, his dissatisfaction evident in his words.
However, when waiting to return to the baseline again, Murray had returned to normal and regained his composure, as if his previous complaint was just a performance and a smokescreen.
So, is it really a smokescreen? Gao Wen has also made preparations in Area 1.
"40:40".
(End of this chapter)