Tension spread in the silence. The more excited they were, the calmer they became. The more excited they were, the stiffer they became. The boiling heat in the audience was almost solidified into a block, but no one made any rash moves. They just held their breath and stared.
Ready to make a move.
Until, snap! There was a crisp explosion, tearing the tension at the scene apart.
Nadal, serve.
Zone 2, backhand.
But it is not an outside corner, but a close-range backhand, with a strong internal rotation. After landing, it spins sideways to the right, not outward to the left but inward to the right.
The calculation and gaming are evident from this.
Gawain was calculating whether Nadal would choose the outside corner, so his body center of gravity tilted slightly to the left; Nadal was also calculating whether Gawain would bet on the outside corner, and it was indeed the outside corner, but it rolled back after landing.
There are also two levels of attack for serving. The first level is the serving route, and the second level is the flight route after the ball bounces off the ground.
Gawain was highly focused. As soon as he started walking, he noticed the strong rotation of the tennis ball. He reacted reflexively while moving, continued to move forward, and leaned his upper body back to make room.
A push and a flick of the wrist——
This is Federer-style serve reception. The purpose of wrapping the wrist is to relieve the force. Sometimes, he will even choose to cut and drop the ball directly when receiving the serve.
Gao Wen had no way of dropping the ball when receiving the serve because Nadal's serve had too much rotation, and a hasty drop of the ball might cause it to go into the net.
However, Gao Wen still successfully relieved the force and pushed the tennis ball back lightly.
straight line.
Return ball into Nadal's right court.
The speed was not fast, even a little slow, giving Nadal enough time to adjust. But this time, Nadal was not ready to go to the net. After his steps were in place smoothly, he waited for a while with a two-handed backhand and saw through Gawain's intention.
Shallow area, unloading force, and backspin, that is to say, the rebound height after landing is limited, which does not give Nadal enough space to exert force to hit the ball. Of course, Nadal can still choose to force the force, but in the backhand position, Nadal often chooses diagonal for such a treatment.
This is Gao Wen’s purpose.
Nadal glanced at Gawain, and sure enough, his feet had already moved towards the forehand gap on the right, but Nadal did the opposite, giving up on exerting force and instead using both hands to cut a straight line with his backhand to create a containment.
On the other side of the net, Gao Wen had to stop and turn quickly and pull his body back. He took two consecutive steps and had already prepared a two-handed backhand, but he paused before the shot, and the air was obviously stagnant for a moment.
Game
Two players are playing a game.
It was obvious that both players' return shots were not fast, and they even consciously reduced their strength and speed, but one could feel the tension of calculation and layout in every shot, and the connection between the diagonal line and the straight line clearly contained a trap.
A sense of urgency, as if a dark cloud was looming over the city, gradually spread.
Nadal is plotting against Gawain, and Gawain is also plotting against Nadal.
Nadal had to guard against the gap in his forehand, and as soon as he started to move, Gawain immediately pushed the ball lightly in a straight line, pulling Nadal back to the backhand position again.
Straightforward, with backhand control, each hitting technique is different, and the rhythm of the whole round is gradually filled with an invisible tension.
Then, at this moment——
Without warning, Nadal sped up, and his steps moving to the right accelerated significantly. It was no longer a cross-step adjustment, but a sprint at full speed.
alarm!
Gawain sounded the alarm immediately and was on full alert as soon as he saw Nadal's movement. From any angle, this was a sideways move.
Without hesitation, Gawain kicked with his left leg and rushed to the right, even faster than Nadal's shot.
Bang! Nadal was not affected at all, his shot was firm, decisive and powerful, he took a series of small steps and then moved sideways without hesitation.
Sideways forehand, diagonal, "inside-out", the tennis ball shot towards the sideline on the forehand side of Gawain like a meteor, pulling out a mighty tail, exploding with Nadal's roar and the exclamations of the audience.
Boom, thunderous sound.
Despite Gawain's accurate prediction and early start, the power of Nadal's sideways forehand was still fully demonstrated, forcing Gawain to speed up, speed up, and speed up again, presenting a full sprint state.
The wind is howling.
near!
near!
Approaching!
However, Gawain did not slow down at all, maintaining his high speed and continued to sprint, rushing towards Nadal's attack.
The inertia generated by the speed and the centrifugal force attached to the power evolve into the acceleration of turning and swinging the racket during the sprint process, and the forehand has already been hit.
A collision, an impact, an explosion.
Because Gawain knows the power of Nadal's sideways forehand, and because Gawain knows the power of Nadal's strong topspin...
If he just defends back properly, whether it is cutting or pushing, it is all within Nadal's calculation, and Nadal will not miss the opportunity in the next attack.
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Originally, Gawain considered cutting in a straight line, but his feet were pulled out of the doubles line and it was difficult for him to return to his position in a short time. This meant that the entire court behind him was empty. The straight backspin ball that he cut back against Nadal's forehand was like a sheep walking into a tiger's mouth, and was basically posing no threat.
Some shots, some lines, some tactics are ineffective when facing Nadal.
Such a situation may be a desperate situation for other players, but for Gao Wen, it was a challenge. Not only did he not back down, but he also felt heroic.
Since it was a desperate situation and there was no other choice, why not just burn your boats and give it a try? Gao Wen chose to confront head-on.
It is not only about using the opponent's force to counterattack, but also about launching a counterattack.
So, there was this scene——
Full force while running at high speed.
"Sideways forehand vs. forehand".
Judging from the details, Gawain still found it difficult to counter Nadal's rotation and power head-on, so he used speed to counter it, relying on his wrist to increase the racket head speed to a new level, and then completed a head-on diagonal shot in high-speed movement, knocking Nadal's attack back.
Slash.
No matter how bold and crazy Gawain was, he didn't have the confidence to face Nadal's full-strength forehand head-on and complete the change of line, so he chose the diagonal line.
The route is the same, but the speed and power are increased to a higher level, and he crashes back into the wall.
“Bumping into a wall,” literally.
Gao Wen felt a tightness in his chest and could feel a strong tail force surging in his chest. The centrifugal force was already pulling his body to continue rushing out of the doubles line.
Braking, controlling, in the midst of a storm, Gawain barely managed to control his steps, but he had no time to adjust, so he kicked with his right leg and started again.
The figure had just been pulled back, passed the obstruction of the referee's chair, and the court space came into view again, and then Nadal's figure was seen unmoved in his embarrassment, standing still in the storm.
Obviously, Nadal's prediction was equally accurate.
Originally, Nadal had moved to his forehand. In his opinion, it was very likely that Gawain would choose to cut in a straight line. After all, it was not the first time in the year-end finals. However, he did not expect that Gawain would show incredible courage and charge back head-on, which disrupted Nadal's plan.
But Nadal did not panic. He stopped and turned quickly, adjusted his steps at the first moment, and returned to the backhand position in the blink of an eye.
The air waves rolled in, as if seeing a tornado forming and growing before one's eyes.
Overwhelming.
The sky is falling apart.