Chapter 2029 Destroying Confidence
It was not until this moment, two beats late, that a few veteran fans at the O2 Stadium realized that Gawain’s cut was both a bait and a trap.
No wonder! No wonder that in the collision of strong opponents, Gao Wen did not reach his limit, but unexpectedly chose to cut with one beat, subverting the rhythm again.
After laying the groundwork, Gao Wen immediately took advantage of the gap in the slow rhythm to complete the adjustment, and without hesitation chose to step forward to grab the rising point of the first beat. His backhand straight line attack was firm and decisive, and murderous aura filled the entire court.
Don’t underestimate this one-third step. It is precisely this tiny adjustment in space that allows Gao Wen to successfully compress the rhythm and find the hitting point.
Backhand, straight line, strike, punch—
Boom! Fast and heavy, following Murray, Gawain also made a direct killing attack.
And, this is still not all.
Following the forward leaning trend of his body, Gao Wen continued to press forward without hesitation. With a sudden step, he cut into the baseline and went straight to the net.
Step. Step. Step.
It only took three or four steps for the tall and strong Gawain to make full use of his pace advantage to get close to the net. Before he could even blink, he successfully got in position in front of the net, with his eyes firmly fixed on the flight trajectory of the tennis ball and Murray's running figure, keeping his attention highly concentrated.
Murray, didn't give up——
Gao Wen would never make such a low-level mistake. This was the case when facing the Big Four. It seemed that there was no chance and it seemed that victory was a foregone conclusion, but he still needed to stay focused and prepare one more beat. He always needed to prepare one more beat, otherwise the outcome might be different.
Facts also proved that Gao Wen was right.
Murray is still sprinting and still fighting. His running figure shows great courage. Even if it is not for this game, Murray needs to continue to fight. He needs to regain his confidence, his form and the game.
Run, run without thinking about anything else.
Murray showed his skills that are often underestimated and ignored. His movement and footwork are definitely not inferior to Nadal. This is another key to his ability to control the game, and it was brought to the extreme at this time.
Hurry up, faster.
Murray's speed has been increased to the extreme, and he even staggered a little while sprinting, but he still managed to throw his body out among the stumbling and bumping. The body control at that moment was like ballet.
With a glance, Murray had already seen Gawain's figure in front of the net, but now he had few routes left to cross, he had to be firm, and more importantly, he had to give it a try.
Shoot, swing, pull——
Slash.
The forehand was like cracking a whip, the speed of the shot instantly increased to the extreme, the body rushed forward, using the inertia of the sprint and the superposition of body weight to complete the swing.
whoosh.
A swing and a pull.
Hit the ball, done.
Huh.
The O2 stadium was dumbfounded, unable to believe that Murray had actually caught up. Their eyes followed the tennis ball as it moved across the entire stadium.
On the other side of the court, Gao Wen also moved quickly to the right, preparing to intercept at the forehand position on the diagonal line, with his arms spread out to form coverage.
It's about to happen! And then——
Crash.
Lower the net.
The tennis ball hit the net hard, creating a white wave on the net.
Murray's powerful shot was not enough to lift the ball over the net.
"ah!"
Gawain clenched his fists and roared, leaping high in front of the net. It was such an intense, tense, exciting and close round, but he still had the last laugh in the active and passive tug-of-war. His chest was like a volcano erupting, and his emotions burst out in an instant.
"ah!"
The O2 Arena fell into a roar, and the entire audience was no exception. Without a doubt, this was the most exciting point since the start of the game. From the baseline to the net, then to the baseline and then back to the net, the offensive and defensive transitions of the two players were so exciting, hundreds or thousands of times more thrilling than a roller coaster.
No one is an exception.
“Pah.”
Murray smashed his racket.
When he saw his desperately saved ball go into the net, his first reaction was to smash the racket and slam it to the ground. The power exploded instantly, and then the racket was twisted into a piece of waste. However, the anger in his eyes was still burning, and a brief venting did not seem to help.
After enduring and enduring, controlling and controlling again, Murray still lost control.
This point is not only a break point, but also a set point.
This also means that after leading 3:2, he lost four games in a row and gave away the first set victory; and he missed a break point in the sixth game.
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That’s it?
What happened in just four or five games was unbearable for Murray. He couldn't believe that his game was at such a low level. His confidence was further shaken and he became uncontrollably irritable.
Grass! Grass, grass, grass! “Ahhhh!”
Murray also roared, but obviously, this was not a celebration of victory. He roared towards his own player box, pouring out anger.
The O2 Arena was filled with noise, uproar, and all kinds of emotions mixed together.
To be honest, before the game, people knew that Gawain was in excellent form recently, people also knew that Murray had encountered some problems, and people also knew the record between Gawain and Murray this year, which also meant that Gawain was slightly favored; but the reason why giants are giants is that you should never underestimate their foundation and courage. The more difficult the situation, the more high-spirited they are.
Look at Federer and then look at Nadal, both of them broke out in the year-end finals; including Djokovic, who ended his four-game losing streak against Gawain in the imperial capital and won in straight sets very cleanly and neatly, which is why they are called giants.
Murray is no exception.
It is precisely because of this that people have more expectations for this game, not to mention, don’t forget that this is London, Murray’s home court.
However, the game fell into a strange rhythm from the middle stage -
Murray seemed to be completely unable to keep up with Gao Wen.
From tactical layout to hitting ability to timing control, Gao Wen was in the lead and completely dominated the game. The break point in the sixth game seemed to anger Gao Wen, and then Gao Wen won the first set in a strong manner.
Awesome, really awesome.
Is this what Gawain is capable of now? Not only the audience thought so, even Murray on the court began to waver.
At the critical moment of the first set, Murray's performance was already at its peak. From serving on, his performance in every link was excellent; but the back-and-forth confrontation always fell into Gawain's control in the end. Not only the situation, but also the control of the entire rhythm was like a dragnet.
Especially this point.
After calming down and thinking back, Murray still couldn't find any fault with himself. He had made the best judgment and the best decision under the current circumstances, but it still didn't work, so... is it really not okay?
At the end of the anger, rage and denial, Murray's confidence began to waver.
Turning around and looking at the players' box, Murray roared, but after the roar he looked confused.
What should he do? What else can he do ? Who can give him an answer? The helplessness and confusion burning in his chest, but he can't express it in words, so, what should he do in the second round? (End of this chapter)