The game started with ACE and ended with ACE. Like autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves, the game was over.
"Love-game", Djokovic easily won four points in a row to hold his first serve, starting smoothly and showing top competitive state.
In the first game, Djokovic did not roar or clench his fists. He was calm and composed throughout the whole process, emitting a kind of confidence from the inside out. His calm eyes emitted a dim light, and he gathered all his emotions and truly entered a state of concentration.
People who are familiar with Djokovic can see that he is ready.
Djokovic came not just for the victory, he believed that he could win, and his confidence was not shaken at all even if he did not have an advantageous record against them.
This is a kind of belief and also a kind of determination. After all the sharp edges are restrained and settled, they are transformed into an attitude of moving forward courageously and unstoppable.
From Federer and Nadal to Murray and Wawrinka and now Gao Wen, Djokovic will not be afraid of any challenge.
“1:0”.
Across the court, Gawain could clearly feel the oppressive aura coming towards him, an invisible strength that was like the ocean, all-encompassing. Even without raging waves, the calm ocean could easily swallow up all shocks and bumps, and then disappear without a trace.
This is Djokovic's ability.
Years later, as Djokovic's playing style matured and improved, his baseline backhand skills reached a new level of perfection, and a joke from Andy Roddick spread widely on social networks: "...First, he'll break your legs."
Like the vast ocean, Djokovic has brought his natural talent for baseline hitting to a whole new level through the perfect combination of prediction, movement and pocketing. He has truly entered another realm, with an attitude of being able to withstand any attack and cover any situation. He embraces and swallows up all attacks and tricks, leaving every opponent feeling fearful.
The Djokovic in front of him gave Gao Wen this kind of feeling.
But is Djokovic invincible? Not really.
Leaving aside old rivals Federer and Nadal, a group of young players have also emerged to find their own breakthroughs in different ways: from the baseline tug-of-war between Medvedev and Zverev, to the clever layout of Tsitsipas, to the violent attacks of Thiem, Carlos-Alcaraz and Holger-Rune, each of them formed a wonderful confrontation with their own characteristics.
Gao Wen also has his own experience.
If Djokovic is the ocean, then Gawain is the breeze.
Seemingly invisible, it is in fact changeable, freer and more unrestrained.
Judging from the first game, Djokovic made slight adjustments to his tactical combination, targeting Gao Wen and the O2 Stadium. He cleverly used the fast indoor hard court. While improving the accuracy of his serve, Djokovic also increased the speed of his serve and increased the power of his serve.
There were two aces in four points in one game, and Djokovic's entire game was very "clean".
In other words, Djokovic will still increase his dominance in the first three shots, and more importantly, save energy in his own serve, and then put more energy and focus into Gawain's serve to engage in entanglement and game.
So, what about Gawain?
Gawain turned around and responded immediately.
In fact, the technical and tactical combination has not changed drastically. After all, from the imperial capital to the magic city and then to Paris, there are many encounters in a short period of time. There is really no need to drastically change the strategy. What's more, Gawain is still the one with the upper hand.
But change also exists objectively.
Sampras and Agassi watched tapes of all three of Djokovic's group-stage matches and noticed that his forehand was inconsistent, not just against Federer but also against Ferrer and Berdych.
The root cause is that Djokovic tried to improve his forehand offensive power.
If we trace back to the root of the problem, it was the defeat in the final in New York that dealt a heavy blow to Djokovic, and he realized that he needed to adjust.
After discussion, Djokovic's team decided to focus on serve and forehand, mainly to improve their control over the game.
Now looking back at the final at Arthur Ashe Stadium, Djokovic's strategy in the first set was actually correct. He created an impact by suppressing the opponent in the first three shots and breaking the deadlock with bold attacks, which greatly disrupted the rhythm of Gawain's round and created a series of opportunities.
The problem is that Djokovic is moving too fast.
Djokovic himself is not the type to attack with great force. The continuous output in the game is not only extremely exhausting but also disrupts his own rhythm.
Therefore, how to strike a balance between baseline stalemate and forced shots has become a new challenge for Djokovic.
After three matches in Beijing, Shanghai, Paris and Gaowen, and three group matches in the year-end finals, he has found some feeling. Although his forehand attack is still not very stable and he often makes mistakes because of rushing to hit the ball or forcing the force, he is slowly getting on the right track.
Therefore, Sampras believes that Gawain needs to disrupt Djokovic's forehand stability again -
Start with serve and volley.
“…Oh, God.”
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"In the second serve and volley in a service game, from the tactical choice of serve to the connection of footwork at volley, Gao Wen's layout completely dominated."
"'Love-game', Gao Wen also responded with one, winning four points in a row to keep his serve."
"Obviously, this is something Djokovic did not expect."
"Now, Djokovic is like us, and we all need to think about a question: what role did the serve-and-volley tactic play in Gawain's game today?"
"The focus is not on serve and volley. Djokovic is not afraid of serve and volley players. Don't forget that he is the best serve receiver in the world. The focus should be on tactical arrangement. Gawain is a dangerous opponent. Serve and volley itself is a tactic."
"Wow, it looks good. It looks really good."
"The match had just begun, and both players were very active in their service games. It was hard to tell what tactics they were using. Before we had time to test each other, the two games were over. The atmosphere of the whole match became increasingly tense, which meant that we had to continue testing each other in the third game."
McEnroe is indeed a professional. As a commentator, he can see the key points at a glance.
Gawain used the sudden tactic of serve and volley to cover up his real intention of putting pressure on Djokovic's forehand. When everyone was confused by the serve and volley tactic, Gawain's three breakthroughs from Djokovic's forehand to score points temporarily became a blind spot.
On the other side, Djokovic is full of confidence.
On this side, Gao Wen is not much behind.
Sure enough, this game lived up to everyone's expectations. In just two rounds, which was less than three minutes, it was rich in content, with calculations and games being fully unfolded.
So, what about the third game?