In the sixth game, Gao Wen served.
Federer, who had gained a firm foothold, continued to exert his strength, scoring the winning points with smooth and continuous attacks and earning another break point; however, at the critical moment, Gawain also showed his magnanimity, with his unparalleled defense holding off Federer's three consecutive determined attacks, and finally forcing Federer's forehand out of bounds, wasting another break point.
The confrontation is becoming more and more intense. Both offense and defense now require higher quality, but this also means that risks must be taken, especially for Federer who is behind in the score. He has no room for maneuver and naturally has to take the risk of making mistakes.
Afterwards, Gao Wen scored two points in a row to save his serve.
"4:2".
In the seventh game, Federer serves.
Gao Wen narrowly escaped the danger and significantly sped up his serve in Federer's serve, avoiding trouble in his own serve after Federer easily held his serve.
First of all, Gawain dared to fight.
Secondly, he didn't just fight casually, but looked for opportunities to attack. Regardless of success or failure, his stance was already in place, which made Federer break out in a sweat.
In fact, Gawain's instant acceleration did make Federer embarrassed. He was leading at "15:40" at one point and also got two consecutive break points.
Federer was pushed to the edge of the cliff in an instant, but at this moment Federer also showed his style as a king of tennis and turned the situation around in Federer's way.
ACE. ACE. ACE. ACE.
Four consecutive aces.
In a desperate situation, Federer brought out his best skills, took control of the situation with ease, and regained his dominance in the midst of passivity and adversity.
Surprised, shocked, rare——
But this is Federer's ability, the courage and strength to turn the tide on the edge of the cliff, and he ended the game without even giving his opponent a chance to touch the ball.
The king of football, worthy of being the king of football.
At the moment he successfully held his serve, Federer clenched his fist and roared, which was rare. It was mainly because the pressure and impact from Gawain were too strong, too fierce and too intensive, forcing Federer to give 200% of his effort.
Federer has not encountered such an embarrassing and difficult situation for a long time. The memories of New York and Wimbledon came back to him.
"4:3".
In the eighth game, it was Gao Wen's turn to serve again.
If anyone thinks that Gao Wen can easily hold his serve in this game, then he definitely did not understand the context of the game and made a wrong judgment on the trend of the game.
Relying on the momentum of his comeback in the previous game, Federer was highly focused. Not only did he shake off the slump of failing to convert consecutive break points, but he also burst out with amazing energy and took the initiative with great momentum.
Federer was determined to win this game. He didn't plan to wait until Gawain served to win the set. That would be too passive. He had to win at this moment.
However, Federer's opponent is Gao Wen, an opponent with an incredibly sensitive touch to the situation and context of the game, and he also improved his condition.
Tit for tat.
So, the situation became entangled -
Gawain missed three game points, while Federer missed four break points. The match was tied seven times. Both players had chances, some of which were due to their opponents' better performances and some of which they missed themselves. The stalemate between the two players was tightly entangled.
It can be seen at this point that the two players have some fluctuations in their physical fitness due to the aftereffects of the intense consumption of the four strong clashes in the middle stages. They are not at their extremes, but they both need to work together to distribute their physical energy.
The most direct manifestation is that Gao Wen's serve is mostly based on control, without taking the risk of forcing speed. The number of flat serves has been significantly reduced, and the success rate of first serves has also declined. This is also one of the important reasons for the stalemate.
After a full fifteen minutes, Gawain finally got the game point again by forcing Federer's forehand shot out of bounds in a 24-shot rally.
Fourth game point.
Then--
In the second zone, in the inner corner, a strong topspin serve at 180 kilometers per hour disrupted Federer's forehand return. Gao Wen's forehand diagonal "inside-out" attack was combined with a follow-up shot to the net, and finally he scored the winning point with a high pressure shot at the net.
finally!
Keep hair.
"5:3".
In terms of the situation, this game was undoubtedly the most stalemate part of the first set, but it was slightly less exciting. The quality of the shots could not be compared with the previous games. However, he was able to hold his serve in a stalemate with fluctuating form, which rewrote the situation in terms of momentum and became a turning point.
In the ninth game, Federer served with no way out.
At this point, Federer realized that something was wrong.
In the last game, Federer put all his efforts into it, and his physical strength and energy were severely exhausted. After repeated entanglements and stalemates, he still couldn't break the serve in the end. He turned around and served himself without any rest between games.
The situation is indeed not good.
The problem now is that Gao Wen is also severely exhausted, so what will Gao Wen choose? Will he choose to relax a little and focus more on his serve to win the set?
The answer is no.
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Gao Wen knew this very clearly. He knew Federer's ability and maybe a little breathing space would allow him to recover. He had to eliminate this possibility and secure victory in the first set as soon as possible.
What's more, Gawain is tired, and Federer is tired too, but Gawain is young after all, he can still hold on a little longer, just a little longer than Federer.
As a result, the pattern of chasing each other and exerting strength alternately continued.
It turns out that Gawain was right.
Federer was also caught in a dilemma: should he simply give up the first set and save his energy for the second set; or should he expend his energy to maintain his serve and then see if he could make a difference in Gawain's serve game to win the set?
Federer of course chose the latter, but the problem was that the power of his serve fluctuated significantly.
The consumption is indeed very intense.
In just the first set, the two players had already played one of the best peak duels in this year's indoor hard court season, but no one could have predicted the outcome.
"40:30".
Federer got the game point first, but his first serve went out of bounds and he fell into trouble with his second serve. Then his second serve was caught by Gawain, who returned an ace with a backhand straight line, and the two sides were once again tied.
Then, Gao Wen obviously let go. After all, he was leading in the score and was in his opponent's serving game, so he could naturally be bolder and more adventurous. His decisive attack completely opened up the situation.
Then, keep up the good work.
With a forehand straight line shot, Gao Wen fully released his energy to score the winning point and got the break point and set point, which was also unexpected.
The whole audience exclaimed——
Federer, once again, stands on the edge of a cliff.
This time, the serve failed to play a key role in breaking the deadlock. Although Federer improved his condition, his first serve still entered the zone smoothly at the critical moment.
However, the power is still slightly inferior.
...Opportunity? Gawain, being Gawain, took small steps to make room for the opponent, and shot without hesitation despite the tight situation of having to put his body behind his opponent.
With a backslash of the skateboard, the tennis ball was knocked back.
This was the second time within three points that Gawain took the risk to fight Federer's serve, firmly, sharply, and powerfully, in full form.