Chapter 2016 Comfort Zone

"40:40".

Area 1.

Outside corner, flat hit.

192 kilometers per hour.

It was a regular serve, nothing fancy. Murray reacted quickly and stepped out immediately, shooting with a forehand shot.

This was Murray's typical tactic in this game. He didn't think or plan, but just hit the ball instinctively. His line was standard, but his rhythm and quality improved, increasing the aggressiveness and pressure in the first three shots. It was more of a change in the content of his own game than a change in Gao Wen's game.

Return the ball, very clean.

Murray has such energy in the forehand position. He does not use pure force like Wawrinka or Del Potro, but relies on whipping to increase speed. In terms of speed alone, he is faster than Federer and Nadal. This shot has won him countless winning points.

At this moment, the forehand return without any distractions is like this——

He quickly and cleanly jumped into Gao Wen's forehand position and pressed near the sideline, which not only increased the rhythm and speed, but also opened up the angle.

After Gao Wen served the ball, he had not had time to adjust his feet and his movements were not fully back in place. He hastily took a sideways step and rushed forward with his forehand.

On the surface, it seemed that Gao Wen was in a passive position and it was too late for him to swing his racket; but in fact, Gao Wen was fully prepared mentally and was not surprised at all.

Although his footwork was not in place, he swung the racket with his upper body and sent it out immediately without hesitation.

Spin around your head.

Gao Wen's forehand swing produces strong topspin in a "passive" situation to adjust the rhythm and control the game.

The entire topspin not only slows down the rhythm, but also further widens the angle. The landing point is very shallow, with a full step of space away from the baseline and only half a step away from the sideline. Therefore, after the tennis ball lands, it flies out with a strong spin.

Murray's footsteps have left the singles line and are approaching the doubles line at full speed.

At this point, a detail can be seen.

If Murray had a strong sense of attack, he should have cut into the baseline, grabbed the rising point, launched an attack, and even went to the net with the ball, but he didn't.

The so-called increase in rhythm and speed is just a tactical concept. Murray still has not completely gotten rid of his usual style of play.

As a result, Murray's feet near the baseline were completely pulled away, which gave Gawain enough time and space to return the ball and release the rotation.

Turn, turn, turn, and continue to rise.

Murray sprinted and jumped up along with his moving steps, striving for a higher hitting point, and swept his forehand to attack for the second time in a row.

Bang! The ball hits hard and strong.

But Murray's attention was completely tense, and he dared not relax at all——

Jumping to hit the ball looks cool and exciting, but in fact it is not very practical because after jumping, their center of gravity and footsteps need to be readjusted, which may waste time before the next hit, and they may fall into a passive position whether in offense or defense.

Generally speaking, it is often used frequently by young players who are keen on performing, such as Kyrgios and Monfils, and it has a performative nature.

Just look at Federer and Nadal, they hardly ever use it. There is no need to sacrifice their footwork adjustment for a momentary "good look".

As for Murray, he will use it occasionally, but not for the sake of viewing, but because the hitting point is too high. Gawain's strong topspin is fully released and rises to the ear. In order to shorten the connection time and increase the hitting rhythm, he has to choose to jump and hit the ball, which is a tactical choice.

Now, after hitting the ball in a sweeping motion, Murray immediately realized the importance of subsequent adjustments.

After pulling his center of gravity back to the ground quickly, he made a small jump on the spot to get rid of the heavy entanglement of gravity, and then continued to adjust his body by moving sideways in small steps. He had already pulled his body back into the field, ready to return to defense, but at the moment when his foot was pulled out, he immediately caught Gawain's action -

Slash.

Topspin.

Repeat the placement.

Murray's heart tightened, and he stopped and turned quickly, started again, and pulled back the center of gravity that had just been pulled out, returning to the forehand position in the bumps and chaos.

but.

What's this ball...? Compared with the previous ball, Gawain's shot landed a little shallower, basically landing in the small triangle area of ​​the service area; at the same time, the super topspin was completely outward, almost equivalent to an outside corner serve, and through the control of the landing point and line, Murray was directly pulled out of the sideline.

Murray moved sideways following the trajectory of the tennis ball, and before he realized it, his feet had already rushed out of the doubles line.

Murray was a little slow to realize his predicament: in fact, he should step forward to seize the rising point.

Although he kept trying to grab the rhythm, at the critical moment, he returned to his familiar comfort zone, and the distance between his feet and the baseline quietly widened.

Gawain aimed at this point and laid out his plan from the serve, with two consecutive strong topspins, each one shallower and more biased than the last. The whole plan was clearly an open conspiracy, with no intention of concealing anything, but Murray still fell for it.

What about his brain? Murray is not satisfied, very, very, very dissatisfied with himself. If his brain doesn't work in a tennis match, it will be a disaster.

However, now is not the time to worry about these things. He needs to respond and fight back.

In fact, the crisis is not a strict crisis. After all, this is the game mode that Murray is familiar with. He is just returning to his usual mode.

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The point is, how should he return the ball?

The brain starts to work.

Slash?

straight line?

Middle lane?

The pros and cons of each route were intricately laid out in his mind, as well as Gawain's movement, Gawain's next step, and his own next step. All kinds of thoughts were intertwined, and in a flash, he had thought of several plans, then overturned them all, and rethought them again...

It's too late.

Murray also realized that he had fallen into his old habits again. He was too hesitant and entangled, and the timing of his shot was obviously wrong.

Damn it!

It turns out that this was Gawain’s real trap.

Everything happened in just a short moment. Murray had no time to hesitate, and then he habitually returned the ball.

Transition ball.

Murray returned to the familiar Murray mode, but in this transition ball, he missed the best hitting point due to a brief hesitation, and the wrapping was obviously more, avoiding the return ball out of bounds. The entire speed, connection, and rhythm all slowed down, and even the landing point of the return ball was pulled back a little.

The only thing worth mentioning is the line.

Murray has not forgotten his signature skills, and even when he was upset, he still chose his routes wisely.

Middle road.

Murray's tactical intention was to hit the deep middle area in one shot, limit Gawain's next shot, and buy himself some breathing time. Now the depth is not enough but the line is not a problem.

Gao Wen's footsteps moved quickly, and after slowing down the rhythm with two consecutive strong topspins, he moved more calmly. He cut to the middle without panic, and without moving further, he had already prepared a backhand with both hands and shot without hesitation.

Turn, swing, push.

Go forward!

At the moment of shooting, Gao Wen made a move to hit the ball forward, and with a flick of his wrist, the rhythm instantly increased again.

(End of this chapter)