It's all about timing -
Of course, Federer can be patient and wait for Gawain's physical fitness to decline, but is this definitely the best option? Not to mention the suppression of momentum, it is uncertain when Gawain's physical fitness will decline, and Federer must also worry about his own physical fitness, after all, he is 14 years older than Gawain.
In fact, from another perspective, Gawain quickly improved his condition in the previous game and was highly focused, so he was bound to decline slightly in the next game, which was actually an opportunity for Federer to launch a counterattack.
Even if we put aside the score, from a long-term perspective, Federer also needs to improve his condition and keep up with the rhythm, otherwise the best-of-three match will be over in the blink of an eye and there will be no chance again.
then.
Federer picked up the pace at the beginning of the fourth game.
The speed-up mentioned here does not refer to the speed of the ball, but to the reaction speed, shooting effect and shot connection, and the improvement of the entire game state.
Similar to Gao Wen's strategy in the third game, he exerted pressure from the beginning of receiving the serve, using forehand and backhand at full power, and breaking the balance with a sudden burst.
——Wow!
Amid exclamations, Federer completed an incredible serve return.
Facing Gawain's serve, a close-range backhand serve at a speed of 196 kilometers per hour, Federer, while being squeezed and unable to turn his body sideways, used a one-handed backhand with his body tucked behind his chest and cut from top to bottom, incredibly cutting out a small ball that was high but not far.
The tennis ball passed over the net, was only half a step away from the net, and fell down close to the net; it landed on the outside of the serving area, and after landing, it was pulled sideways with a strong side spin.
And then... nothing happened.
Before Gao Wen could even start, the tennis ball had already rushed back into the court. The ball boy opened his arms and took the tennis ball into his palms like an outfielder, ending the point and counting it as an ace in the return serve.
"15:40".
With this amazing return serve, Federer won two consecutive break points, and he handled the situation calmly and leisurely, firmly controlling the situation.
Even Gao Wen had to applaud Federer for this point.
Although there was some luck involved, Federer's touch was indeed strong. He turned the passive situation into a winning point and successfully got the break point.
As expected, things...
On the one hand, Gao Wen's attention dropped after he just stayed focused and broke the serve.
On the other hand, Federer instantly accelerated.
Sure enough, as always, the next service game after breaking is a big problem when facing the Big Four, and there is no exception at any time.
In fact, in such a situation, simple points such as ACE or direct serve can often help the serving side quickly gain a foothold, but in this game, Gawain's serve did feel the pressure from Federer and he was unable to get some cheap points, thus falling into a passive position.
Only three minutes passed before Gawain and Federer swapped positions, and now it was Gawain's turn to save the break point.
Very good. Very good.
Everything went as expected.
However, Gao Wen did not think that this would be an easy game. These confrontations, difficulties, and stalemates were all expected.
Indoor hard courts do have many similarities with grass courts. Federer's serve, net play and forehand can all be fully utilized here.
Federer was able to beat Corwin at Wimbledon and similarly he will have a slight advantage at the O2 Arena, which is why the betting odds are slightly higher.
Dangers, difficulties, setbacks, challenges, these are all expected.
Gawain doesn't need to be impatient.
Honestly, the focus of the last game was testing and adjustment. The fact that we were able to break the serve in the end was a pleasant surprise, which indirectly proves one thing:
Gawain is under pressure, and so is Federer.
So, it doesn’t matter even if we get broken in this game, we can just start over. After all, this is only the first half of the first set, not even the middle.
However, this does not mean that Gawain will give up his serve easily. If Federer wants to break the serve, he must continue to perform at his best and try his best.
Otherwise, Gawain is always ready to strike back.
And now, why not... start with how to deal with the first break point.
Zone 1.
Serve, how should I choose?
In this game, Federer also fully absorbed the experience of Gao Wen in the previous game. Starting from receiving the serve, the Swiss king also showed the diversity of his receiving techniques: it is not necessary to rush and attack, but to make use of combination defense, cutting, pushing, rotating arc, etc., as long as the opponent's second shot attack connection after serving is disrupted.
Occasionally, there would be some unexpected balls, like the cut ball just now, the effect of which even surprised Federer himself.
Unlike any other player, Federer's serve return is very imaginative.
Naturally, Gao Wen's serve also requires some imagination and cannot be too rigid.
He looked up at Federer to make sure that Federer was ready, but Gawain didn't hesitate and started throwing the ball.
Tennis ball, into the air -
Inner angle.
Close.
It’s still a close inside corner, and it’s still a close backhand press, but this time it’s different.
Speed: 180 kilometers per hour.
At the same time, a large amount of friction is added to completely pull up the topspin parabola, and the serve that lands in the shallow inner area continues to rise at high speed after bouncing.
One of the goals is to squeeze the hitting space.
Raising the hitting point is the second purpose.
In this year's North American summer hard court season, Federer often cut into the baseline to grab serve, and "SABR" caused a lot of controversy, but it did not work in the US Open. He lost to Gao Wen in the semi-finals. This also made Federer adjust his tactics and did not continue to stick to this set.
Entering the indoor hard court season, Federer's serve receiving position is very close to the baseline, but he rarely continues to move forward to grab points, almost never.
Hence, this serve.
Gao Wen was certain that Federer would not cut into the baseline to receive the serve, so he used strong topspin to limit Federer, and the most likely event was a cut and push.
Because it is difficult to exert force at such a hitting point, even Federer's one-handed backhand is not easy to control, so cutting is indeed a more appropriate method.
Occasionally, Federer would combine this slice return serve with a sudden trip to the net, which often worked wonders.
Across the court, as expected—
Federer cuts.
The cutting was expected, but the line and landing point exceeded expectations.
In this game, Federer's concentration and state were truly extraordinary. His brain was working at high speed, and his whole train of thought was completely open. After loosening his body a little, he hit a one-handed backhand that was in first gear.
However, the route was not the conventional deep push down the middle, nor was it pushed diagonally toward Gao Wen's forehand along the direction of movement. Instead, he used the angle of the racket face and the coordination of the wrist to feint, deceive Gao Wen's prediction, easily unload the force, cut a backspin, and push toward Gao Wen's backhand.
Slash.
Deep area.
Outward stroke.
This backhand slice that goes against inertia, gravity and trend places incredible demands on the core strength of the waist and abdomen as well as detailed control of the wrist. Inspired by the match point between Gawain and Djokovic, it breaks the routine by going the other way and successfully disrupts Gawain's second-shot offensive connection.
The tennis ball floated towards Gao Wen's backhand, wobbling like a cloud.
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