Chapter 233 Match point appears
Bang!
Zone 1, inside corner.
Whoosh! Kokkinakis' serve was clearly well thought out, aiming for Gawain's backhand and then slightly pulling the angle, making the landing point very tricky.
In the tied situation, Kokkinakis tried hard to serve. Although his serve speed could not be compared with the opening stage due to his reduced physical strength, Kokkinakis also realized the necessity of establishing an advantage through serving, otherwise this point would be very difficult.
It went in! The fast, hard inside serve successfully suppressed Gao Wen's two-handed backhand.
The speed of the ball was slightly beyond Gao Wen's expectations, and the space for his two-handed backhand swing was squeezed, which added more difficulties to receiving the serve; and when moving, the force of pushing off the ground was slightly insufficient, the swing range was slightly lacking, and the overall hitting power was not full enough.
The rotation and landing point of the return ball are obviously not enough.
Chance!
Kokkinakis had a very keen sense of smell. Seeing that Gawain's flying move was not complete, he immediately cut to the baseline and quickly pressed forward, aiming his eyes at Gawain's return. Without even waiting for the tennis ball to land, he raised his hand to complete a volley half-court shot and whipped it out with a powerful forehand.
Bang! The speed and power were superimposed on the tennis ball, and it flew directly to the right forehand space of Gawain at an incredible speed.
Gawain's body was rushing to the left, and before he could break free of the inertia, Kokkinakis's return ball had already landed and bounced out.
From here we can see that Kokkinakis does not wait for the tennis ball to land, compresses the hitting time, and improves the hitting rhythm. Because he knows Gao Wen's defensive ability, he needs to cut off Gao Wen's return defense time from the root. Only in this way can he ensure that Gao Wen has no chance to touch the ball.
Winning point! "First up, Kokkinakis."
Ahhh! Kokkinakis screamed with his fists clenched as he stood near the serving line. He really had a very frustrating time in this game. After saving three break points, he finally took the lead for the first time and got the game point, which was also the match point. He won the game in the way he was most accustomed to and liked the most.
Compared to the previous 1 minute and 35 shots of a seesaw battle, this three-shot round is the rhythm of Kokkinakis's game.
finally!
That kind of repression and frustration were finally released without reservation.
Ah! Kokkinakis jumped up with passion. Although he didn't say anything, his movements and expression seemed to say:
This is my tennis! This is my game! This is my victory! Boom! As Kokkinakis roared, the audience stood up again, and thunderous cheers and applause poured down like a torrential rain.
Match point has arrived!
The match point finally appeared! Today was only the first day of the Binghamton Challenge. All attention was on the two favorites to win the championship, Zverev and Stakhovsky. However, no one expected that the duel between the two unseeded players on Court 3 would be so exciting and exciting. The audience went crazy.
After a back-and-forth battle, Kokkinakis took the lead for the first time in his own serve game.
Gao Wen's body was in a state of inertia, unable to react. He helplessly watched the tennis ball fall to the ground to score. He slapped his head in annoyance: Spin!
Even if the two-handed backhand is not able to swing the racket completely, the rotational attachment is still insufficient, seriously insufficient, which is undoubtedly very fatal.
Gao Wen was not satisfied with his return.
In fact, Gao Wen had heard more than once that professional players and professional arenas were different after all. McDonald and Thompson had mentioned it many times, and Coach Martin had also solemnly explained it during the summer training camp. Of course, Gao Wen himself also clearly understood this.
But talking on paper and actual practice are two different things after all.
Only when you stand opposite professional players and top players can you understand what it feels like.
Gawain... a little excited.
Because Gao Wen clearly realized that the NCAA championship was just a starting point. There was a broader world, a more exciting field, and more colorful challenges waiting for him ahead.
Imagine, if even the world's 285th ranked player is so impressive, then what about the world's top 50 or top 20? What about the Big Four? Even just thinking about it in my mind makes my blood boil.
However, those are all things of the future, and Gawain still needs to focus on the present—
Match point for Kokkinakis.
How should he play this point?
Phew, it was the first time I faced my opponent’s match point. It was quite exciting. Plop! Plop! The sound of my heart hitting my chest was so clear and so strong that I could clearly feel the heat and burning of my blood. Even the heat of the sun blowing gently on my arms became so vivid.
After a brief distraction, Gawain's attention became highly focused. He immersed himself in the game with unprecedented concentration.
Snap. Snap. Snap.
Kokkinakis was dribbling the ball. He did not raise his head to look at Gao Wen's position, nor did he adjust his breathing rhythm. He seemed a little anxious. He must have wanted to take advantage of the momentum of scoring two points in a row and win the victory in one go.
So, he didn’t adjust and threw the ball quickly.
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Push off the ground! Bend your knees! Turn your body! Swing your racket! As if encouraged by the match point, Kokkinakis pushed off the ground with full force, and the power of his serve returned to the standard level again, and the speed of his racket head increased.
Second zone, inside corner! Coming from the first zone to the second zone, Kokkinakis still believed that he had found the feel in the inside corner, and he could continue to copy and paste the landing point and angle, so he aimed at the inside corner for the second consecutive serve.
Boom! As expected!
Kokkinakis still served successfully, and when he needed to serve the most, he found the serve!
Moreover, the speed and power are at a certain level, and coupled with the angle, the power of this serve is restored, and it can even be said to be the best serve in this serve-winning game.
So, got it? Kokkinakis' eyes lit up, and he watched the flight of the tennis ball with anticipation, ready to step forward and attack at any time.
but!
Kokkinakis calculated everything perfectly, except for one key point: Gawain's foresight.
Last time it was the inside corner, this time it was the inside corner again? Is it really irrelevant that such a poorly thought-out serve strategy is so important? Perhaps Kokkinakis still doesn't realize how much potential Gawain has yet to tap on the other side of the net.
Facing the match point, Gao Wen remained very calm, his mentality was not affected at all, and his prediction was very accurate. He saw the clues from Kokkinakis's eagerness to serve immediately, and he firmly grasped Kokkinakis's mentality of copying and pasting the feel of the serve line and made the correct judgment.
and!
The line of Kokkinakis's serve in the inner corner this time was not so straight and the angle was not fully opened. The details also showed that Kokkinakis was young and lacked experience. If he could make some adjustments and work on his serve to improve the quality, he would naturally be more threatening.
Kokkinakis, however, did not.
Second update.
(End of this chapter)